Revelations
by Meredith Citarra
Summary: When only Willow, Xander and Giles survive the fall of Sunnydale they must find something new to do with there lives.  Giles takes what's left of his family to the only safe place he can think of ...  Jack's cabin.
1. Chapter 1

**Revelations**

**By Meredith**

_Summary: When only Willow, Xander and Giles survive the fall of Sunnydale they must find something new to do with there lives. Giles takes what's left of his family to the only safe place he can think of ... Jack's cabin. _

_Pairing(s): Jack/Giles, Jack/Daniel_

_Rating: R, FRA, M, Slash_

_Warnings/Spoilers: Slash, Season 7 Buffy (but goes AU at Chosen), Early Season 7 Stargate. This is part one of a series. This story is complete on its own, but more goodness to come._

_Disclaimer: I don't own them, if I did even Showtime fans would blush. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, no money is made. The only thing I get out of this is the pleasure of having written it and hopefully some positive feedback._

_Feedback: I thrive on constructive feedback so please send it!_

_Archive: Sure just let me know where so I can send people to see it and you MUST keep this header attached :)_

_Authors Notes: Thanks to my wonderful Beta DeeRose for her editing and suggestions without which this story may never have been posted._

_** Prologue **_

The ground rumbled as the crater spread its gaping maw, attempting to swallow everything around it, including a beaten yellow school bus which barely had the ability to outrun the catastrophic event. Maybe it was the borders of the city itself, or just some very weird cosmic fate, but the expansion of the sink hole that once was Sunnydale, California came to a halt at the city limits. Brakes squealed in protest, rubber tires burned their mark onto the asphalt road, and the three survivors jumped out of the bus and turned to watch the green sign reading "Welcome to Sunnydale" waver then fall backwards into the abyss, effectively wiping the city off not only the map, but the entire globe.

"I don't understand, what did this?" Xander asked while he took in the impossible scene before him.

"Spike," Willow answered, "and the power within the amulet."

"They're all gone," Giles said barely above a whisper.

"But we saved the world," Xander reminded Giles, desperate to find a silver lining to the horror that took place.

"We changed the world," Willow corrected and looked like she was listening to something far off in the distance. "I can feel them, Giles, all over. Slayers are awakening every where."

"What are we going to do now?" Xander asked.

_** Chapter One **_

"Would you check the answering machine for me?" Jack asked Daniel while he carried large brown paper bags of groceries toward the cabin's rustic but serviceable kitchen.

"'Kay," the linguist replied with a grunt, hauling their luggage to the doors in front of the master and guest bedrooms, then breathing a sigh of relief he returned to the living room unburdened. The little LCD screen on the answering machine displayed a red blinking 1 so he pressed the "play" button.

Jack didn't get many messages here at the cabin so he began unpacking the cold food first, sure that the message would be from Sam or Teal'c telling them to have fun fishing, likely in a snarkie voice, knowing there wasn't any fish in his pond.

"_Mac…"_an Englishman's voice began when the machine came to life, _"Its Ripper. Things here in California… it's all just gone so wrong."_The man sounded completely defeated by whatever had happened and Jack dashed into the living room to hear the rest of the message more clearly. _"You once told me I could come to the cabin whenever I needed, whether you were there or not. Mac, we need to get out of here, and we need a place we can be safe while we come to grips with what's happened. We are leaving today, it's about a thirty hour drive, but we will take turns at the wheel, I don't think we can stop overnight anywhere, it's too hard to stop and think about it all. I'll explain everything when we get there, if you are there as well that is,"_ the voice promised then just as he was hanging up the phone they heard a woman cry out in pain.

Both men gawked at the answering machine and then looked at each other. "What was _that_ all about?" Daniel asked, "and who's Mack, the guy who owned this place before you?"

Jack shook his head, "The guy who owned this place before me was my father. Mac is me; well it _was_ me back in my early Special Forces days. I used my middle name, MacGyver, as my covert persona name. I met Ripper back then."

"You two were undercover together? You must have been very close to offer him use of the cabin even when you're not here." There was a strange quality in Daniel's voice that Jack couldn't quite figure out.

"Nope, but I was stuck over in England for an op, Ripper hung out at the same bar where I was watching someone who knew my target. It was gonna be a while before I got a lead on my mark, so while I was there I watched everyone else. There was a wild, loud crew hitting on all the girls, just one crushed beer can away from getting kicked out each night. Ripper was one of them, trying to impress anyone in earshot by claiming he was an original member of Pink Floyd. One night a friend of his tried to pick a fight with me. I tried to explain I don't fight without a reason, so he tried to sucker punch me to give me a reason, only I caught his hand and gripped it in mine, squeezing it so hard he dropped to his knees. When he finally gave in, the rest of the group howled in laughter and bought me a drink or two, or ten by the end of the night. After that, I used them as cover while I kept an eye on my pigeon. Ripper and I became friends and after my assignment ended, I stayed in England for some down time, which ended up with me getting pneumonia. Since I couldn't get on an airplane like that, and you know how I feel about hospitals, he offered to put me up at his place while I recovered. I took him up on it and we got to know each other a lot better. Eventually he came over to the states for vacation and stayed with me here. So there you have it.

"My question is; who's he bringing here? I doubt it's any of his old gang, which is good because he would know better than to bring those losers here. He was a high school librarian for a while, but he blew it up and was out of a job, so I don't guess it's a fellow teacher," Jack shrugged.

"He blew up the library?!" Daniel's mouth dropped open in shock.

"No, the whole school actually."

"The _whole school?_ Your friend blew up a school?"

"Well it started in the library and spread out from there, but he had a good reason for doing it."

"What reason could possibly be good enough to warrant blowing up an entire school?"

"It was the only way to kill the big honkin' monster that was about to eat everyone and take over the world."

Daniel rolled his eyes, "Ok fine, _don't_ tell me."

"It's true," Jack defended.

"Right and Baal is President of the United States," he groused. "But that scream, I know that scream all too well, it's the scream of deep loss. The girl he's bringing is mourning someone very close to her."

Jack nodded, "Yeah, that's how I figured it too. Maybe it's his wife and they lost their kid." That was a grief Jack was intimately familiar with, though last he heard, Ripper wasn't married and he was sure he would have been invited to the wedding if there was one. When Jack hung his head in contemplation, he saw the current date and time on the answering machine's display. "Shit! The message is almost thirty hours old now; they'll be here any minute!" Jack scrambled to make sure all the linens were clean and that he had enough pillows for at least two additional people.

They didn't have to wait long before a big yellow school bus pulled up the driveway and came to a sputtering halt next to Jack's truck.

"They're here," Daniel called out to Jack while watching through the window, "and they're in a school bus."

"A _school bus?!_ Please don't tell me it's a _full_ school bus," Jack called from one of the guestrooms as he finished setting it up.

Three people stumbled out of the bus looking as beaten up as the vehicle was; covered in debris, dust, dents, and something else, "Is that blood?" Daniel asked Jack when he joined him at the window. He doubted very much if they had changed clothes since whatever event occurred that made them flee California.

Jack looked at the motley trio and nodded, "Yeah, I think so," he sighed deeply and they both headed out to help the refugees.

There was a man about Jack's age, and two younger adults, somewhere in their early twenties. The young dark haired man with an eye-patch helped the red headed woman off the bus.

"Ripper," Jack said while he approached them, "what the hell happened to you?" He put his hand on the older man's forearm, pulled him into a manly embrace and patted his back.

"Hell is precisely what happened to us," the voice was the same lilting English tone from the answering machine.

"Let us help you with your bags, we can do the introductions inside," Jack headed for the bus door, but a hand placed on his arm stopped him.

"There aren't any bags, we lost everything, and every_one_," Ripper explained, his soft tone a deep contrast to the violence of his name.

Jack was dumbstruck, "Come inside. You have a safe place here."

Ripper already knew the layout of Jack's cabin so he stayed in the living room with Daniel while Jack showed the other two around. Both men stared outside at the bus amazed that it didn't just crumble right there where it sat.

Once they all gathered back in the living room Jack looked at the two unknowns with curiosity, "Since I don't know your names, I'll do the introductions from my side. I'm Jack O'Neill and this is Daniel Jackson."

"I'm Rupert Giles, this is Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris," Ripper announced for them all, seeing no answer forthcoming from either of his companions, and to introduce himself to Daniel.

As they all shook hands Daniel asked curiously, "Why does Jack call you Ripper?"

Before Giles could answer, Jack answered for him, "Because calling me Ripper wouldn't be nearly as funny."

Daniel rolled his eyes and groaned while Giles and Xander gave a half hearted chuckle, though no response came from Willow, who was in shock and had to be led around by Xander.

"I'll go grab something for you all to wear until we can wash your clothes, or buy you some new stuff," Jack said and turned toward his bedroom. "There are towels in the bathroom, feel free to freshen up, take showers, whatever you want. Heck if you really want, you can have a swim in the lake."

"We just restocked the fridge, let me make you all something to eat," Daniel offered.

"Giles, where should I…" Xander began then gestured toward Willow.

"Thank you, Daniel, yes please." Giles hadn't realized he was so hungry until Daniel mentioned food. Then with sad eyes he looked over at his two former students. "Willow, why don't you go for the first shower?"

"Come on, Will," Xander led her to the guest bathroom.

"They call you Giles?"

"The kids? Yes."

"They don't seem much like kids to me."

"Oh, well I suppose they aren't kids anymore are they? They were students of mine when I worked at the high school library. I suppose when they graduated they felt it awkward to call me Rupert."

"Or Ripper?"

"Ah, well, you see, Ripper was from the days of my rebellious youth. Only a rare few still call me that."

"So Rupert it is?"

"Yes, of course, unless you prefer Giles as well. I understand Rupert can be a bit stuffy." Giles took off his glasses to polish them on his handkerchief but stopped seeing how dirty the cloth was.

Daniel nodded toward the guest bathroom, "She going to be alright?"

Following Daniel into the Kitchen, Giles sighed, "In time. You see, we've suffered a great loss. All our loved ones, friends and family alike, were just killed," the composed Englishman's voice broke at the end.

"Damn, Ripper, I am so sorry," Jack said having entered the kitchen just in time to hear about the deaths.

"So am I. I can't believe she's gone," Giles's eyes misted at the mention of a lost woman. Jack gave him his handkerchief, which Giles used to clean his glasses rather than dab his eyes, the stoic English façade wasn't quite ready to fall. "It's all such a horrific mess."

Nodding Jack reassured his friend, "I want you to know that I'll help in anyway I can."

"Thank you," Giles whispered and they all fell silent, going to work on setting the table and preparing lunch.

When they came out of the bathroom, Xander and Willow looked like Jack; each wearing a plaid shirt and jeans provided by him. Willow's jeans were tightly cinched with a belt and cuffed at the bottom since Jack's pants were _way_ too big for her. She could have worn Jack's shirt alone as a short dress except her underwear was discarded in the dirty clothes pile and modesty demanded she cover herself. Technically, it was Xander's modesty since Willow was still too far gone to care. Xander had washed and dressed her, but she had barely moved, not even while Xander took his own shower right next to her; he had left her sitting on the closed toilet.

"Well aren't you two a cute couple," Daniel said with a wide smile as he put the salad bowl down on the table.

Intelligence sparked behind Willow's eyes for a moment and she looked at Daniel, "We aren't a couple," she stated before fading back into herself.

Xander sat her down and took the seat next to her. He took an empty bowl, filled it with salad, dressed it then told her, "Eat, Will." When he looked up he saw a clearly chagrined Daniel and smiled weakly, "We've been best friends all our lives. Willow's girlfriend Kennedy and my Anya were…"

He didn't finish the sentence but Daniel nodded, "I'm sorry. I lost my wife too," he said trying to show them he understood their pain.

Lunch was mostly silent, except for a few compliments and gratitude for the meal. This was the first meal they'd had since "it" happened.

Jack and Daniel cleared the table, Willow and Xander sat on the couch, while Giles took his turn in the shower. "Jack, if you want me to go home just tell me. I can see these guys need some time to cope with all that's happened and I'm sure one less stranger around would help."

Looking from Daniel to the two on the couch, Jack sighed, "Let's play it by ear for now. I'm not sure what they are going to need and you're a _lot_ easier to talk to than I am about emotional stuff."

Daniel thought Jack was very good at being there when you needed him, but he also knew that only applied to those he cared about. Jack was apparently uneasy about Willow and Xander's state of mind.

They stayed in the kitchen giving the two mourners time alone until Giles walked into the area between the living room and kitchen, also wearing Jack's clothes. "Well, it's not tweed, but it will do," he said specifically to try to lighten the mood, hoping at least to get a smile from the "kids." He got a slight grin from Xander, but that was the end of it. "As Mac has only the two guest bedrooms, Daniel will have his own, the kids will share one and I'll take the couch."

"I'll take the couch, it's alright. You've been through enough, you deserve the bed," Daniel offered.

"No, no, I wouldn't dream of displacing you Daniel, you were here first, the bed is yours."

"No it's ok, I'll sleep—"

Jack interrupted them, "Ripper and Daniel each get a guestroom, Willow and Xander will take my room cause that's the only bed big enough to comfortably fit two, and I'll take the couch. End of story."

"But Ja-ack!" Daniel protested.

"No buts, Daniel. I'm used to the couch; windup falling asleep out here watching the TV more often than not. I already changed the linens and everything so it's ready for them." Jack looked so proud of himself.

"Thank you, Mr. O'Neill," Xander said gently.

"It's Colonel O'Neill, but call me Jack and you're welcome."

"Would it be ok if we turned in early, Jack?"

"Sure thing, I'm surprised you stayed awake through lunch. If you wake up and need anything just wake me or feel free to raid the food stocks for whatever you want."

"Thanks again," Xander took Willow into Jack's room, which they had seen when he showed them around, and closed the door behind them. It wasn't so much sleep they wanted, but time alone to process everything.

"Rupert, you want to lie down too? We have plenty of things to keep us busy so don't feel you have to stay up on our account," Daniel offered, but Giles shook his head.

Jack and Giles sat down on each end of the couch, while Daniel perched in the comfy chair opposite the two feeling a bit awkward, like he was about to witness something he had no right to see.

"I can't thank you enough for letting us invade your cabin, especially when you're clearly here on holiday with Daniel. I know it's a terrible imposition," Giles said.

"Not a problem. He planned on making this a wo+rking vacation anyway." Jack indicated a series of boxes in the room with bubble-wrapped artifacts, folders of notes, and several reference books. "_Doctor_ Daniel Jackson," Jack used his full name and title for emphasis, "is an archaeologist, anthropologist, linguist, and a good guy all around, but has the inability to leave work at work."

"I know how that can be. I'd love to talk shop with you sometime, Daniel; I'm an historian," Giles vastly understated his true skills.

"I'd like that a lot," Daniel smiled feeling much less awkward now that he knew he was welcomed to be there by Jack's old friend.

Giles returned his attention to Jack, "I suppose I should explain things a bit. You must be wondering about all this."

"Now that you mention it, I am a bit curious," Jack said casually like it hadn't been the only thing on his mind since he heard the message this morning.

"I told you about Buffy and her friends, mentioned I was their librarian?"

"Until you blew up the school," Jack interrupted good-naturedly teasing him.

"Until I blew up the school," Giles repeated dryly, "yes, do bring that up as often as possible." Rolling his eyes he took a moment to sigh and mockingly glare at Jack before continuing the tale. "Remember when you talked me into pursuing my proper destiny, following in my family's footsteps?" Jack nodded and Giles went on, "Well, my destiny led me to a girl, young, athletic, and entirely without any sort of perspective toward the real world, concerned only with who would take her to the prom, or if she would make the cheer leading squad."

"Your basic teenage girl then?" Daniel threw in.

"Precisely, she was the exact stereotypical female teenager," Giles drew another deep breath in sad remembrance of the clueless young girl she'd been, and the incredible woman she'd grown into, only to have her life cut tragically short, as eventually happened to all of the Chosen Ones throughout the ages. The Watcher took a moment to form his next words carefully; Jack, he knew, would take what ever was told to him to the grave, but Daniel was a stranger so he was unsure exactly what information he could or should share with the man. "It was my job to tutor this wild, unrestrained child and turn her into a disciplined young woman capable of taking her _own_ place in destiny. Like your position in Special Forces, Buffy had her own task to protect and serve that was also kept covert from the general masses for their safety as well as her own. In short order, however, her closest friends found out and joined her, assisting in whatever ways they could, despite my repeated warnings of danger. For quite a number of years we worked together to keep every one safe, until this last group of evil-doers came upon us, actually the First Evil; that's what it called itself, the First Evil and its minions. This was the worst foe we had ever come up against."

"Kind of like Hitler?" Daniel wondered aloud.

Nodding Giles continued, "Yes, though where Hitler was content to command his minions to do everything for him, the First was eager to get into the midst of things as well.

"We knew we would need help, and quite a lot of it, so we spoke to the head of our group and they began sending us assistance. But while we were gathering our forces, the First began killing those from whom we were trying to gain help. In England, nearly everyone in my order was slaughtered as well as many others throughout the world. We attempted to gather all the Potentials, ah, potential victims that is, to keep them safe, but some were murdered before we could reach them."

"What kind of group is it? Who is it, just tell me and I'll get my Special Forces buddies together and we'll take them down," Jack interrupted with his offer.

Giles shook his head, "I wish I could have called you, perhaps it might have swung the balance our way sooner and so many lives wouldn't have been lost, but these were truly unbeatable foes. It's far too late now, anyway. Only hours before I left the message here, we fought the final battle. There was little hope of survival, but we had to try, if we didn't…" Giles shook his head not finishing the sentence. He took a moment to compose himself before beginning again. "The First and its minions were far too much for us, overwhelming us in number as well as power. In the end we defeated them with aid of an ancient artifact, but it was not before losing everyone we had gathered to help fight. We three are all that's left. Not even Sunnydale survived, it was swallowed by the Earth. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it's destruction on the news."

Since it happened so recently it made sense that they'd still been in blood soaked, rubble encrusted clothes. As for whatever they were showing on the news, Jack couldn't exactly tell Giles he'd been off planet and came directly to the cabin for some rest and relaxation after debriefing so he hadn't had a chance to catch up on the news yet. "Well, we've been on a mission; we were going to catch up on the news here."

Jack tried to talk Giles into spilling the whole truth, saying there had to be some way he could help, but it was clear Giles was much too afraid to lose anyone else and that the final battle was truly the end of it, the enemies were all destroyed along with Buffy and those who fought at her side. While they spoke Daniel's mind reviewed what was being said, trying to make sense of it. There was something there, something telling him what the mystery was, but it was just slightly out of focus.

"Tutor a young girl," Daniel mumbled thinking hard, going over key things he'd heard once more.

Jack and Giles turned their heads toward Daniel, "Huh?"

"One girl's destiny, one single girl to covertly protect, blew up the high school in Sunnydale to stop a monster…"

"Uh, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"An order in England, Potentials, hell is precisely what happened to them…" Daniel continued then gasped and looked up from the floor to meet Giles's eyes, "You're a Watcher and Buffy was the Slayer wasn't she?"

"Have you been sniffing your markers? What the hell are you talking about?" Jack demanded.

"I'm right aren't I?" Daniel's eyes were wide with excitement and he popped up out of his chair.

"Daniel!" Jack yelled and stood up to face him, "Have you lost your mind?"

Giles stood up and put a hand on Jack's arm to restrain him, "Mac, it's alright. Daniel is apparently a very thorough archaeologist/anthropologist to know of the Watchers and the Slayer. Since he already knows, there's no use to keep up the pretense in front of him. Thank you though."

"You sure?"

"Yes, quite, shall we sit back down?" This time Giles sat down right next to Jack and they both looked at Daniel sitting across from them once more. "I'm dreadfully sorry, Mac was simply protecting me. Normally the Watchers don't tell others about our group or the Slayer, but it seems that Buffy's calling was the worst kept secret in all of Slayer history, which of course makes me incredibly proud," sarcasm dripped from Giles. "Her friends found out one by one, and as I mentioned earlier, many even joined us to try to help in anyway they could to ease the pressure on Buffy from being the sole protector. Mac found out because he met me in my young foolish days when I eagerly told stories of dark magic and demon summoning that I'd done, the foolish part was actually doing the summoning. When he stayed with me to recover from his bout of pneumonia he got to see some of my exemplary stupidity in action.

"My mates and I used to summon a demon—"

"Egon wasn't it?" Jack asked.

"Eyghon the Sleepwalker, yes. This demon would possess us one at a time, giving us quite the extraordinary magical high, but as such things are wont to do, it went wrong and we couldn't exorcise the beast from Randall. It wound up killing Randall, well, we did really. We thought it was gone for good, though that wasn't the case. However, since we _were_ free of it for the time, and I was sufficiently unnerved by the ordeal, I stayed entirely at home with Mac, intending never to leave the flat again.

"I told him everything. I know he didn't believe the supernatural bits of my story, but I also know he believed that someone, if not some_thing_ killed my friend and had tried to kill the rest of us. It was that blind faith in me that made me feel so close to him so quickly. No one else ever gave me that sort of trust. He changed my life and got me back on track, without his faith in me I'd have been dead before the New Year rang in that winter. He convinced me to follow my proper destiny and become a Watcher like my father and grandmother."

Now Daniel felt uncomfortable again, clearly this was more than just two old casual friends talking; this was two men who shared a connection, the sort of bond that is created when someone saves your life. He wondered if that bond was anywhere near as close to the relationship Jack had with him and the rest of SG1; for a moment Daniel felt a pang of jealousy.

"From what you've mentioned over the years it sounds like being a Watcher is just about as dangerous as what you'd been doing," Jack pointed out.

"More dangerous in fact, but at least this way I was working for a good cause, not a stupid magical high," Giles sighed.

"True but you still put your life in danger too often," Jack groused.

"So do you Jack," Daniel reminded him.

Jack seemed about to object but then nodded, "Fair enough."

"You said the demon wasn't gone for good, did it come back and try again?" Daniel's curiosity wouldn't let that story go unfinished.

"Unfortunately, yes. Twenty years after the event, when one of our group died of natural causes, that death allowed Eyghon to possess the dead body because it was marked with his symbol—did I mention we were all foolish enough to tattoo his symbol on our arms in order to get him to enter us? No? Ah yes, yet another sign of our infinite brilliance—and once it possessed Thomas it hunted the rest of us down one by one. To make a long and painful story short, it burned through dead bodies and needed to find an unconscious living body in order to be reborn, it went through killing and possessing my other mates before it found a living unconscious body to inhabit, that of my then would-be-girlfriend. In the end it was actually Willow's quite inspired idea that saved us; she had done the research and found that when threatened with imminent death of the living host body it would immediately jump into the nearest unconscious or dead body. So she had a, well, friendly vampire that we knew, strangle Jenny, when it thought she would die Eyghon jumped into the nearest dead body, which happened to be that of the vampire strangling it. As the vampire already had a demon in him, the two demons fought it out, eventually kicking Eyghon out of the already inhabited body thus destroying him."

Daniel was stunned by the story and how it resembled Goa'uld possession just enough to let him accept that, though he didn't know it at the time, there was a lot more going on than just aliens creating and using the pyramids for landing pads.

"Strangling is pretty dangerous; couldn't you have used an anesthetic?" Jack asked.

Giles shook his head, "Unfortunately not, the situation called for fast action and there was no way to get any in time. Worse yet it would merely have made her go to sleep, not threatened her life. Eyghon had to believe the body was going to die, nothing quite compares to someone choking the life out of you to have you believe you'll die."

"I think I know of a few things that might," Daniel mumbled. In his line of work there were far too many things that happened to them that made them believe they'd die, or wish that they would.

"Hmm?" Giles didn't understand the comment.

"Nothing. So you are the last of your old group?"

"No, there's one more, Ethan Rayne, unfortunately."

"Sounds like you would rather he hadn't lived."

"He lived by tattooing the mark onto Buffy, then burning it off himself with acid. I definitely would have shed no tears at his death."

"He was a real piece of work. Even back then he was only out for himself," Jack mentioned folding his arms, in the process hitting Giles in the arm because they were sitting so close.

"You had a run in with him?" Daniel asked.

"Oh yeah, more than one."

Giles began to chuckle, "Remember the time you made tear gas and tossed it in his car just as he closed the door?"

"_Made_ tear gas?" Daniel asked confused.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, with a hot water bottle, soda, some spices and vinegar. He _so_ deserved it too." He laughed and Giles joined him in laughing. "Then there was the time I welded his car doors shut using his own car antenna, jumper cables and battery. He left us alone for a long time after that."

"Yes, Mac was absolutely brilliant. I'd never seen someone so inventive with found items, come to think of it, to this day I still haven't met anyone better at rigging things than you." Giles said nudging Jack with an elbow before leading into another story of their youthful escapades, though now it seemed more like they were only talking to each other, unintentionally leaving Daniel out.

Daniel was no dummy, far from it in fact, as his multiple doctorates would attest to, so he stood up and announced, "I'm gonna go do their laundry, if you need me, I'll be downstairs." He fetched the discarded clothes then headed down to the basement where the washer and dryer were. It was clear to Daniel the two needed time alone, but so did he. The story he'd just heard was amazing and he would need time to let it digest, but all through their talking he couldn't help hearing over and over in his mind Giles's words, 'Mac was simply protecting me.' Protecting Giles from him? That disturbed Daniel on so many levels.

The two watched him leave and Giles gave a soft laugh, "Do you think he knows? I didn't think I was giving us away. I tried to keep it all very friendly and nothing more."

Jack shook his head, "Nah, but there's a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy where we work, so even if he suspected I don't think he'd say so." With that said Jack leaned over and pulled Giles into a deeper hug than he had done out by the bus. The hug tightened when Giles returned it, removed his glasses and buried his face in Jack's neck, sobbing only seconds later. Giles had had to be the staunch, stoic, rock for the others to cling to less they be swept away in grief. Finally alone with the only man who'd ever seen him cry, the man who helped him regain himself when he was the most lost, he allowed the strength to fall and to feel some of the deep loss he suffered.

Cooing soothing words to counter Giles's sobbed confessions of guilt, Jack held tight to him, allowing him to get out what he'd been holding inside. Jack didn't believe for a moment that the deaths were his fault, but he entirely understood why Giles took responsibility for them. Jack would have done the same.

When it seemed the torrent was finally ending Jack lifted Giles's face and began kissing away the tears, eventually moving down to kiss his lips. Giles returned the kiss with the desperation of a man in such deep pain seeking some sort of comfort lest he die of agony.

It had been about six years since Giles last visited the cabin, and so much happened in those years that changed both men, but when they kissed it was clear their place in the other man's heart was not one of the many things that changed and they both realized that fact. Soon the kissing changed from despair to desire; soft moans emanated from each of them, their hands began caressing and searching, relearning the shape of the other man's torso. When their hands began drifting lower, onto hips and thighs the moans became louder and more urgent.

No matter what he was doing, Jack's "threat assessment radar" almost never turned off and he unwillingly broke the kiss. "Just heard the washing machine buzzer go off," he panted softly, trying to catch his breath and calm down, "Daniel will hang what needs hanging then toss the rest in the dryer and come back upstairs."

Giles nodded and sat up properly, "I'll go rinse my face. I'm afraid I'll still be puffy eyed when he returns."

"That's ok; Danny won't mention that either, he's one who understands the need for a good cry."

"Thank you… for everything." Giles headed to the bathroom to make himself stoic again.

Jack wiped his own face and neck clear of any tears shed onto him, or sweat from the heat of the kiss. His desire had caused his pants to become uncomfortable, and he had just rearranged himself when Daniel came up the stairs talking loudly to give them a warning of his imminent arrival. Daniel thought he was doing it just so they could stop talking private things, he never would have dreamed what they'd really been doing.

"I don't know if they will be up to going out tomorrow, but I'll be glad to run into town with them to get them new clothes. Theirs are washed, but ripped in places it's not fashionable to have rips in."

"If they aren't we can get their sizes and pick up some generic stuff like jeans and t-shirts. I'm sure they'd rather wear something less their style that fits than my old stuff. You could put a whole 'nother girl in my pants with Willow," Jack answered, casually sitting back against the couch, crossing his legs and placing a hand on his ankle from across his body in hopes of covering his arousal.

Looking a bit confused when he arrived in the living room and saw Jack alone, Daniel asked, "Everything ok? He decide to turn in?"

"It's gonna take some time. He was close to Buffy, like she was a daughter kind of thing. And I think he needs time away from the 'kids'. He's their rock so he doesn't feel he can mourn in front of them."

Daniel nodded, "Makes sense, I'll definitely try getting them out to the mall tomorrow, or at least out to the lake for a bit."

"Thanks Danny," Jack smiled.

That evening Jack barbequed fish for dinner, fish bought at the fresh market, of course, since his lake was empty, but he had a way of preparing it that made one wonder how it was _not_ just pulled out of the water. There was enough for everyone, though the kids, as they were now thought of by Jack and Daniel also, never left the bedroom. The leftovers were covered and put in the fridge with microwave instructions incase hunger forced the duo from their retreat.

Everyone turned in around eleven o'clock; Jack staying on the couch like he said he would, the other two men having the guestrooms to themselves. Jack had given Giles a pair of shorts to sleep in and he idly wondered what Willow and Xander were doing for sleeping attire.

As he lay there on the couch Jack couldn't help thinking about the day's events. The day had definitely not progressed like he thought it would when they first arrived, but he found himself very glad to see Ripper again, though he wished it was under much better circumstances. Remembering the passionate, but all too short, necking session on his couch earlier that day, Jack had a very hard time falling asleep.

Three hours later, Jack woke with a start, "BUFFY!" Giles screamed.

Bolting out of bed and running to the guest bedroom Giles was using, Jack crashed into Daniel, who also heard the scream and was responding to the outcry from his own room.

A loud bang and a sudden burst of light backlit a two headed demon that fell back down to all fours once it burst through the door. Flailing his arms around in search of a weapon, Giles's hand connected with the lamp on the nightstand, which he yanked from its spot and hurled at the demon.

"OWW! ForCryingOutLoud! Ripper wake up!" Jack yelled when the metal connected with his shoulder, he was still trying to detangle himself from Daniel where they fell.

"Mac?" Giles gasped and felt around the nightstand for his glasses.

Daniel flipped the light switch to on once he got back on his feet while Jack moved to the bed and picked up Giles's glasses that had fallen on the floor during the lamp retrieval. "Here," Jack handed over the glasses and looked at the sweaty bare-chested man before him. "It was just a nightmare. You're safe," he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Where are Willow and Xander?" Giles panted.

"I'll check," Daniel said and headed for Jack's room, again giving them private time.

"I'm so sorry that I woke you and your friend."

"No problem, we've been awaken in the middle of the night before, just it's generally on away missions by the locals or animals, not usually my cabin," Jack joked to ease his out-of-sorts friend.

"It keeps replaying in my mind, I try different things to save them, but fail each time."

Jack knew those type of nightmares, always second judging yourself, "what if"ing every scenario possible and some that weren't. He wasn't about to cheapen the man's emotions by "there there"ing him, he hated the words, "it will be alright in time." Fuck that! It would be different in time, but it would never be "alright." So rather than say something meaningless Jack just moved closer to hug him, to be there for him, like Giles was there for him when Jack told him about Charlie.

It had been after the blue crystalline entity helped him, and his now ex-wife Sara, say goodbye to Charlie. Giles came over for two weeks before starting his new job of librarian at Sunnydale High. Even though Jack was better it was very hard to tell Giles. What was worse was telling him the reason he hadn't told him earlier was that he'd actively been planning his own death.

Each of them knew the other was not their soul mate, but it was still a hard blow for Giles to learn that a.) Jack would rather have killed himself than let him, or anyone for that matter, help him through that horrible time, b.) that Giles would never have known the truth unless he investigated Jack's death, which he also wouldn't have known about until who knew when since he wasn't exactly on Jack's ex-wife's "to call" list and c.) that he would never have gotten to say goodbye, or gotten a goodbye from the lover that had meant so much to him and helped him so greatly for more years than he cared to count. It was the only time either of them had felt hurt by something the other did, or in this case, didn't do.

It had been a very emotional two weeks, but in the end it served to remind Jack that he hadn't lost _everything_ that ever meant something to him and that sometimes the best course of action is to reach out to someone rather than face the ordeal alone.

Which was exactly the reason Giles was here now, he needed help and had reached out to the one person he knew

could help him. Jack didn't know all the specifics yet, or what they needed him for other than lodging, but he knew there was no one else this stuffy old Englishman could cry in front of and so he'd at least be there for him in that way.

"Rupert, the kids are fine, sleeping. The left over dinner plates are on the nightstand so apparently they were able to fend for themselves," Daniel announced from the doorway while he watched the two in the tight embrace. More precisely it could be said he watched while the one man clung desperately to the other like his life depended on it. "If you guys need anything, let me know. I'm going back to bed, but I can be here in a flash if needed."

"Thank you, Daniel," the two said in perfect unison.

Daniel watched the two a moment longer before closing the door behind him, then the door to his room once he was inside.

_** Chapter Two **_

The night had been quite active for Jack since most of it he spent hugging Giles tighter and caressing him while whispering soothing nonsense to calm the tremors he had the whole night while he slept. There were no more screams, however, Giles had woken up several times sweating from nightmares, but upon feeling Jack spooned up behind him he'd calm down again, hugging the arms that were around him tighter, in time falling asleep once more.

Eventually Jack's internal clock demanded he get out of bed and start the day, but when he tried to quietly disengage himself he woke Giles accidentally, "Thank you," he whispered and rubbed the sleep from his face. "It's the first sleep I've gotten since it happened."

"Like I said yesterday, you're safe here, I'll make sure of that," Jack promised and rested his hand on Giles's knee. "Do you plan on going back to California, or back to England? Is there anything left for you in either place?"

"I truly don't know. I _do_ intend on fetching things that I'd rather not be without from California, books and artifacts mostly. However, after that, well I really hadn't thought that far yet. Those are the sorts of things I was planning to decide once we made it here and I had a chance to actually think again."

Jack nodded and stood, readjusting the waistband of his shorts that he'd slept in, "Sounds like a plan. You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Permanently, if you like," he said with a soft grin. "I'm gonna take a shower," he gave Giles a soft squeeze on the shoulder, "I wish it was under better circumstances, but I'm damned glad to see you."

The two men took showers in turn, though Jack had to get back into his shorts so he could get clothes from his bedroom, a bedroom which was occupied at the moment so he headed for the kitchen where he smelled fresh coffee. On his way to get his caffeine fix he saw Daniel had set up three artifacts on the coffee table along with all the books he'd brought to help him try to translate them, and his laptop. Each artifact had its own yellow notepad with his thoughts on them sitting in front of him. It seemed to Jack that he was looking at all three at the same time. "Whatcha doin'?" Jack asked like he usually did when he saw Daniel doing research.

"Trying to figure this out," Daniel replied offhandedly.

"I can see that, but I mean wouldn't it be a whole lot easier if you did them one at a time?"

"Normally, yes, when it's something I can read and just have to translate a lot of it, but when things stump me I like to work on more than one. Sometimes I get frustrated and move on to another; other times while working on one piece I'll get a sudden insight to another."

"Gotcha, sort of like when you think too hard to remember something, so move on to something else, but about three hours later in the middle of something completely unrelated you remember it?" Jack suggested.

"Exactly."

"Anything I can help with?"

Daniel grinned sheepishly and looked at his empty coffee mug, "You could get me a refill."

Jack chuckled, "Sure thing," grabbed the mug then headed to the kitchen again.

Moments later Xander came out of Jack's room and went into the kitchen. "Oh, hi. Thank you for taking us all in and letting me and Will use your bedroom."

Jack smiled and passed Xander the coffee mug he just filled for himself, "Hey, 'a friend in need…' and all that. How's she doing?"

"Not well. I've been having a hard time keeping her from losing herself to her grief, which is actually keeping _me_ from losing myself in mine."

"Well, that's something I guess," Jack poured himself a new cup of coffee and refilled Daniel's mug then led the way back to Daniel. "We were thinking, if you want to go into town and get some new clothes we'd be happy to help you out there."

Xander followed listening to the offer, sipped his coffee and looked at the piles of papers Daniel was shuffling. "That would really be great of you. It will get Will up and thinking about something else for a while and get you your clothes back. I don't know how much spare clothes you keep here, but being down three sets can't be a good thing—hey, neat!" Xander's change of topic happened so fast that he had the middle artifact from the coffee table in his hands before either Jack or Daniel could say anything.

"Be careful with that! It's very old!" Daniel said while he jumped up from the couch and waved his hands toward the tablet Xander held.

The young man laughed, "The stone it's carved on maybe, but the words are from about three hundred years in the future."

"What?!" both Daniel and Jack blurted out.

"Well, I guess if you figure that the race is probably thousands of years old, the writing could be a current language."

"You can read that?" Daniel was amazed.

"Sure, easy," Xander said proudly.

"But you, I mean, are you a linguist? Where did you learn it? What does it say? What language is it?"

"Slow down there fella. You don't have to be a linguist to read it, just a serious fan of the show."

"Show?" Daniel's amazement turned to bafflement.

"Yeah, Star Trek. This is Klingon, it says 'May an honorable death gain you entrance into Sto-Vo-Kor," Xander smiled at the confounded man.

Daniel shook his head and took the tablet, "No, no this is hundreds of years old and came from an entirely different planet." That last revelation earned Daniel a death glare from Jack, who was about to cover for Daniel's slip of the tongue about "different planet" when, nodding and laughing, Xander went on.

"Kronos, the Klingon homeworld. Yeah, I read the advertisement too."

"Advertisement?!"

"For the tablet. They are selling these on Xander said, but when Daniel was clearly too stunned to speak he sat on the couch, picked up Daniel's laptop, saw the wireless network card and mumbled, "sweet!" before tapping in the web address then turning the computer for Daniel and Jack to look at. "See? $89.95—ooh it's on sale," he said the last bit to himself.

Daniel sat down hard on the couch next to the young man holding his laptop and stared at the screen and its bright red X crossing out the old price of $105.95 and stating boldly, "Sale! Get your Sto-Vo-Kor tablet today while supplies last! Don't be the last Klingon on Q'onoS to get this keepsake! Going fast!"

"But I found it at a dig site…" Daniel said sounding and looking quite hypnotized by the image on the screen before him.

Now Xander tried to look sympathetic, though it was very hard to do knowing that an "expert" of archaeology was fooled by a recently man made fake language artifact, "Well someone who knows you must have put it there as a joke."

Daniel immediately glared at Jack who raised his hands in defense, amazingly not spilling his coffee in the process, "Hey it wasn't me. Maybe Sam or Teal'c… or one of the other teams?"

"Who would do that? Do you have any idea how long I've been stumped on this one? How many different texts I've looked through for something remotely similar! What kind of person would put me through all this!" Daniel was now fuming mad.

Jack put his free hand on his friend's shoulder, "Down boy, I'm sure it was meant to be a harmless prank. Whoever did it must have thought you'd recognize the writing and get a laugh out of it."

"But Ja-ack!" Daniel whined, the anger leaving him and being replaced by embarrassment.

"What seems to be the problem here? Xander you aren't bothering the good doctor are you?" Giles asked as he slipped in behind them, fresh from his shower.

"Doctor who?" Xander asked.

"Different show," Jack mumbled.

"What?"

"Never mind, Xander was just showing Danny that one of the artifacts he'd been stumped on is a fake," Jack explained.

"Oh dear, sorry to hear that," Giles said in a very British way then glanced at the two artifacts remaining on the table and the one in Daniel's hand. "Oh, Klingon, yes that _is_ rotten luck."

"You know Klingon too?" Daniel was exasperated.

"No, no. I just recognized the lettering style because I had a similar problem a few years back—you haven't been trying to open this have you?" Giles asked picking up the cube artifact, again the change of topic was so quick it made Daniel's head spin; he couldn't help but wonder if it was him, or Californians.

"Not yet. I was trying to figure out the engravings first, why is it Klingon too?" Daniel groused.

"Definitely not Klingon at all. This is a genuine artifact, quite powerful. I'm surprised it hasn't drawn Willow out to investigate."

"How do you know? Why would Willow be drawn to it? What is it?" The Doctor of Archaeology, Anthropology and Linguistics was now at his wits end with his own lack of knowledge.

"It's a puzzle box, more specifically the Lament Configuration. If you'd opened it, you'd have opened a portal to a hell like dimension, possibly even hell itself, through which the Cenobites would have entered our world then taken you back to torture you for the rest of eternity," Giles explained very matter-of-factly.

"Ha ha, very funny, but 'let's mess with the archaeologist' time is over. Do you know what that really is or not?" Daniel plead.

Giles exchanged looks with Jack who shrugged then nodded. "I'm quite serious actually," he passed the box to Jack, sat in the last remaining spot on the couch, took the computer from Xander and began typing away. "Willow is much better at this than I, but I do know some sites that should help. If I had my books I could show it to you far easier, however, ahh yes, this will do nicely." He pivoted the computer to show Daniel and it had all sorts of drawings throughout the ages of what it is thought the Cenobites look like, created by those who claim to be witnesses. Next to each drawing were stories from those witnesses about what they had seen. There was additional information from various groups who didn't identify themselves on the site, but Giles knew that they were all secret societies like the Clandestine Watchers Council—Giles's own group, the Talamasca, the Illuminati, and the Millennium Group who all had done research into the Lament Configuration and the Cenobites. "While the 'witness' testimony is viewed with great suspicion the information gathered by the other groups is seen as truth.

"Supposedly this box is the key to a realm of extraordinary sensual pleasures, and those who seek the box for those pleasures are brought to a realm where death does not exist, so there is no escape to the tortures put upon them; thus it's thought of as a hell dimension. However, to the Cenobites, all sensation, pain or pleasure, is desirable, wanting to experience everything the mind and body can, so they experiment on those they capture to learn what can and can't be done to the body and mind." Giles explained while Daniel looked over the website.

"Hell dimension? There's no such thing as…" Daniel wanted to argue, but then remembered Sokar had terra-formed a moon into a version like Earth's Christian version of hell, so was it really that far fetched to believe that there could actually be a hell dimension?

"I assure you hell is very real, Daniel." Giles pointed at the last artifact on the table, "I recognize some of the symbols on your third artifact as well." Turning the computer back to himself, Giles began tapping away once more. "Alright this is a start," Giles turned the computer back to Daniel and pointed at a symbol on the screen. "This is that symbol right there, a demonic emblem" he pointed at the same symbol on the artifact. "If you'd like I can do some research for the item's meaning."

"This isn't, I mean it can't be, it's not even close to anything I know," the linguist was, once more, at a loss for words.

"That's because it's not from Earth, it came from the demon's place of origin," Giles explained.

"But why haven't I come across anything like this before?"

"Actually you probably have, but didn't recognize it so put it aside to decipher at a later time."

"Like I did with these artifacts and more; there's so many of them I'll never catch up," Daniel groused, took off his glasses and rubbed his face thinking of the amount of work ahead of him.

"Uh, Danny," Jack interrupted him from his thoughts, "remember Giles was the Watcher of the Slayer of vampires and demons; he's got all sorts of information on things you don't know about. Maybe you and Ripper should have a little talk. I'm thinking your department might benefit from having him on staff. If you want a new job that is, Ripper. You two talk. I'll take the kids into town and get you all some new clothes. This is a conversation that's gonna take a while," Jack offered and Xander stood up letting the two men sit and have an in depth conversation about things Daniel had heard of but dismissed as folklore or explained away in other manners.

Xander roused Willow from bed and the three took Jack's truck into town.

"So, colonel huh? I was in the military once, sort of," Xander announced just a few minutes into the ride, Willow, sandwiched between the two men, stayed silent.

"Colonel, yeah, and what do you mean 'sort of'?"

"Well, uh, you knew Giles in his Ripper days, so you know about Ethan Rayne?"

"Real pompous self serving prick?"

"Yep, that's him. He came into Sunnydale to 'have a little fun' and decided to run a costume shop for Halloween one year, only we didn't know anything about his involvement until after. He cursed the costumes causing them to turn the wearer into whatever the costume was."

"I was a ghost," Willow whispered.

"And a wonderful ghost you were too, Will," Xander said patting her hand, glad to see she was listening. "She became a ghost, and I became a sharpshooter in the Army, complete with combat training, munitions, everything. After it was over I kept all of the knowledge. It's faded a bit over the years, but most of it's still there."

"So are you gonna sign up for the real thing, now that you've left Sunnydale?"

"I haven't really thought about the future yet. Everything just happened and I need to get my head on straight before making any serious life choices like that. Also the missing eye causes issues with depth of field."

Jack nodded in understanding, "Yeah I was gonna ask about the eye thing, how it happened and all, but I thought you might not appreciate that. But you know, there are lots of things you can do in the service that the depth of field issue won't effect. As for getting your head on straight before making life choices, it's a good plan. Took me a while to look past the moment when I lost my son. I still think about him all the time, but with a little help from an 'entity' I was able to start looking toward the future. You two kids impress me. Really. I can see you two will help each other through this."

This actually quieted Xander for a while, he took Willow's hand in his, squeezing it tightly and smiled as he thought about other things they helped each other through.


	2. Chapter 2

_** Chapter Three **_

Daniel drank his third cup of coffee from the freshly brewed pot, while he sat quietly and let everything Giles had just told him sink in. Sure he had read a lot of stories, as an anthropologist he knew folk lore was often an important part of how a society behaved, but there was a difference between folk lore and truth. Though he felt a bit hypocritical at the moment, with his knowledge of aliens having been behind the creation of the pyramids, why did he have such a hard time believing other folk lore was also true? He asked all sorts of questions while Giles explained and now had to come to grips with it all.

Giles sat researching the last unidentified relic on the web, wishing repeatedly for access to his books. It was definitely of demonic origin and he was making headway into the project, even writing notes on Daniel's yellow pad of paper.

"Do you have anything on a demon, or other thing, that comes in the form of a sort of snake like creature which invades a human host and takes over the body, suppressing the original host's mind?" Daniel asked suddenly.

For a moment Giles looked up from "his" work and stared at the wall while he thought it over. "Well, I'm not sure about the entirety of that, but I have books on possession by spirits and/or demons. I remember reading something when I was doing some research into Eyghon the Sleepwalker, remember I mentioned he was a demon who possesses the unconscious or dead. What was it now…" Giles became lost in thought for a while before shaking his head, "I'm sorry Daniel, but I can't remember, it was a very long time ago. All I can recall from the book was that upon dissecting the dead body, there was a snake-like parasite at the base of the brain."

Daniel's interest was suddenly aroused, "Really? Do you have that book in your collection?"

"Yes, it's one I kept at the shop, but like I told Mac, I need to return with Willow to see if we can get my books and such from the crater that once was Sunnydale. When I fetch it you're more then welcome to see it then."

"'Mac', it's funny to hear you call him that. I only heard about 'MacGyver' when we got your message yesterday. He never told you his real name?" Daniel was curious; they couldn't be too close if he didn't know his real name was Jack, well technically Jonathan, but Jack for short.

"Oh, of course he did, and I told him mine, but I suppose we were just so used to calling each other Mac and Ripper that we never bothered using proper names, just as Xander and Willow still call me Giles, it would likely feel awkward for them to call me Rupert. It's funny though, I don't let any of my old mates from those days call me Ripper anymore. It reminds me of bad times when they say it, but not with Mac. He wasn't part of the whole dark magic crowd, so all my memories with him, while not all 'good' per say, since we helped each other through dark patches in our lives, still the feelings associated with his calling me Ripper were much more positive."

"No demons attached when he said it," Daniel nodded understanding.

"Quite literally actually." The two men shared a brief laugh before falling back into silence, each remembering their own times with Jack.

"Jack was right when he said my department could use you. I have a lot more stuff there that I can't identify, which are similar to this last artifact, you and your vast knowledge would be a huge asset. I'll warn you though, that it's government run and top secret so their rules are often too military for my taste, but I'm wearing them down. I can't give you anything more specific than translating is part of the job, and sometimes on site translating ruins and such. When you think you're ready to get back into things, and if you like the idea, let me know and I'll get a non-disclosure form and a tour set up."

"Thank you, I can see why you and he are such good friends, you're so much alike," Giles smiled warmly.

"Me? Like Jack?! You've got to be kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding."

"No, not at all. You're clearly intelligent, kind hearted, giving…"

Daniel was dumbfounded, this man was not describing any Jack he knew, "You have actually _met_ Jack O'Neill, right?"

Giles laughed, "What seems to be the problem? Has he changed that much over the six years I've not seen him? We've spoken on the phone and he seemed quite normal to me."

"He sure has changed, if he was ever like you said," Daniel scoffed.

"So you are willing to believe in vampires and demons when I tell you of that, but not that he is kind hearted and giving?"

"Oh that I believe, he just keeps that side of him hidden usually. It's the intelligence I question. Don't get me wrong, Jack's tactical planning is beyond amazing, his dedication second to none, but even _he_ would admit he's not the brightest bulb in the pack."

Now Giles wasn't laughing and lofted an eyebrow, "You mean you don't know? He's never mentioned his level of education?"

Daniel looked confused, "Um, well, no, not specifically, but, I mean, he makes it pretty clear he doesn't understand Sam and I when we give our reports."

"Well then, things _have_ changed," Giles said in hopes of ending the conversation right there. He knew the truth about Jack and it was clear Daniel didn't. There must be a reason he kept the truth from the others so Giles would respect that and let Jack tell them if he wanted to.

"If he was smarter than he claims to be, why would he hide it?"

"Why indeed," Giles said and began writing notes again, hoping his resumed interest in researching would aid his attempt to end the conversation.

While Giles was done with the conversation, Daniel wasn't. After all they had been through, why did he act confused by techno-babble if he wasn't? "Maybe you just…"

A gentle sigh came from the Englishman and he moved to look at Daniel once more, "Talk to Mac, Daniel. I can't answer your questions. If he chose to play down his intelligence, I won't be the one to divulge the information. I've accidentally broached a topic I wasn't aware was off limits. I am sorry," Giles said closing the conversation without question since Daniel didn't seem to take the other hints. It didn't satisfy the archaeologist, but he agreed whatever the truth was, it should come from Jack.

Four hours after they left, Jack pulled up to the cabin with his two passengers and a ton of bags from their shopping spree. "There's no place like home," Jack said when he entered the front door, his arms full of packages.

Immediately both Daniel and Giles stood to help, "Welcome back."

"Thanks. Danny, there are a couple more bags of food and stuff in the truck, do you mind?" Jack asked handing Giles the bags he carried. "Here, Ripper, I got you some stuff so you wouldn't have to make a separate trip. I'm pretty sure I got all the sizes right."

Something about what Jack just said struck Daniel wrong, he felt jealous once more and he didn't like that feeling. He grabbed the new groceries from the truck and headed to the kitchen to unpack.

Jack's cell phone rang and he headed toward his back porch to answer it. "Yellow? Yeah, he's here. When? Ok we're leaving now." He hung up and called out, "Daniel, pack what you need, we've been recalled. There's a situation that needs our attention."

"I'll finish unpacking that," Xander offered when he came back from putting his packages in Jack's room.

"Thanks," Daniel mumbled distracted by their recall order. "Are they sending a plane?"

"Nah, they said we had enough time before we leave to make the drive."

Daniel quickly packed every thing he'd brought while Jack spoke to Giles, who emerged from the guest room wearing new slacks, a fine weave shirt, dress socks and new shoes.

"You remembered everything perfectly, it all fits and it's quite my style." Giles looked much more like himself in the new clothes. "I left the leather jacket in the room for now, no need to wear it indoors, but it's lovely, you shouldn't have, it's far too nice."

Jack looked over his friend and nodded agreeing everything looked right, "Well, you haven't changed much in body shape, maybe got a little more muscular actually, so I upped the shirt size a bit, and I saw the remnants of your other clothes seemed about the same style as last time. As for the jacket, you lost your old one in the crater I'm guessing, and it just wouldn't be you without your leather," Jack smiled at that last bit.

"Wouldn't be him without leather?" Xander asked while he came in from the kitchen, having finished his task. "Don't you mean wouldn't be him without tweed?"

"Nope. Tweed is for work, leather is for play, isn't that right Ripper?"

Giles smiled and looked down for a moment, fishing his new handkerchief out of his new pants and giving his glasses a good cleaning, "Yes, well, it's not something they are used to seeing me in."

Jack chuckled, "Well, while I'd like to stay and embarrass you by telling stories of your misspent youth, we are being recalled. There's a delicate situation we need to handle and it's an on site kind of deal. I'll leave you the keys to the place, it's all yours for as long as you need or want it."

"You sound like you won't be back for quite a while."

"Well, we only had a week until our next scheduled mission, and this one sounds like it'll take about that long, so yeah, I really have no idea when I'll be back. Seriously though, the cabin's yours, stay here and recover. Xander now knows the way to the closest food mart and to the mall in town. If you need to contact me I'll leave a number, though chances are if I'm on assignment no one would be able to reach me."

Giles smiled and nodded, "Yes, I remember, never in telephone distance, but always there when I truly need you. Thank you. We'll take good care of the cabin," Giles promised and embraced his friend. "Go dté tú slán, dlúthchara."

"Déanfaidh, dlúthchara." Jack replied automatically to the Gaelic farewell.

Daniel looked a bit shocked to hear Jack reply to another language, in that language, Giles was right; there was more to Jack than he let on. He pulled himself out of thought to finish repacking his things and put them in the truck.

The ride back to base was silent, each man contemplating what they would find out when they arrived and were briefed, though Daniel also spent time wondering what else he didn't know about Jack.

_** Chapter Four **_

"SG4 reports that the Norandans are willing to negotiate, but the dialect of the council is untranslatable to their linguist and they need Dr. Jackson's skills. I don't think I need to remind you how much we need this trade agreement to go through," General Hammond announced in his familiar Texas drawl.

"No, general, anytime big honkin' guns are involved, I'm right there with you," Jack said.

Daniel couldn't help but roll his eyes and sigh, of _course_ Jack was raring to go _now_ but if the trade had been over cultural exchange Jack would be the one rolling his eyes. "We are _nothing_ alike," he mumbled hearing Giles's words in his mind.

"What's that Dr. Jackson?" the general asked.

"Hm? Nothing, just wondering what their language is like if it was untranslatable," he covered then took a deep drink from his coffee mug.

"When do we leave?" the blond haired, blue eyed Major Samantha Carter asked.

"_They_ leave in two hours. You and Teal'c will be heading over to Chulak. Master Bra'tac has requested you both. He has new men in need of Tretonin."

"Can't we just send them some through the gate?" Sam asked much preferring to stay with her team.

General Hammond shrugged, "He said he'd explain more when you got there and I have never known Master Bra'tac to make frivolous requests, since Col. O'Neill and Dr. Jackson will have SG4 to back them up, I agreed. You and Teal'c leave in a half hour." He rose and addressed them all, "You have your assignments, team dismissed and good luck people."

They all rose after they were released and headed for the circular stairs. "Good luck Carter, T. Say 'hey' to Bra'tac for us," Jack said and headed with Daniel to get anything the linguist turned negotiator might need.

"You too, sir. Enjoy yourself Daniel," Sam replied knowing that chances were Daniel _would_ actually enjoy himself and that Jack would be bored until he had a chance to play with the guns.

Teal'c just nodded to Jack while Daniel laughed and waved at them. When they were alone Daniel asked, "Wonder why Bra'tac only wanted them, we could help just as easily as —"

"Daniel," Jack interrupted, "count your blessings. Remember the _last_ time Bra'tac needed us?"

Rubbing his left side Daniel nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right, sometimes it still aches."

Jack chuckled and they changed into their gear; Jack in his green BDU and BlackHawk Omega Tactical Vest, Daniel in a fine Armani suit. Daniel liked to look the part of a negotiator when he had to play it and he felt a suit was much better then BDUs any day.

After getting dressed Daniel decided he didn't need anything else since SG4 would already have the offer in hand, he was merely going to translate and present the offer; hopefully the Norandans would accept the offer readily enough.

"Incoming Wormhole!" Walter's familiar voice announced. "SG4's IDC," he continued.

Jack and Daniel decided to meet SG4 in the Gate room to get whatever info from them that they could before heading over themselves.

When the team arrived and started squabbling immediately upon materialization, Daniel lifted a hand to get their attention, "Hi guys! What's wrong? Weren't half of you going to wait for us on the other side?"

"You made me look like a fool!" one man spat.

"No, I didn't. Look they barely understood us at all, how could I make you look like a fool?" another defended.

"Seriously Paul, no one thought any less of you," a third chimed in.

The fourth sighed and strode down the ramp to Daniel and Jack. "Captain Morris is in a tiff. He's blaming our inability to communicate with the council on Sullivan."

They looked back at the trio on the ramp and saw the argument getting worse. "_Is_ it Major Sullivan's fault?" Daniel asked.

"No, sir. It's no one's fault and the council wasn't upset at all. Captain Morris is making something _literally_ out of nothing," Lieutenant Kallen reported.

Just then Jack looked up and saw Captain Morris sucker punch Major Sullivan then go full out psycho on him. Colonel Rojas, next to them on the ramp, immediately tried to pull the captain off his superior. Jack rushed up the ramp to help.

"What the hell?" Hammond's yelled over the intercom. "Take him to the infirmary. You'd better be sick Captain or your next stop will be the brig!" he commanded and the SFs stationed in the Gate room moved into action.

It was over as fast as it began and while Captain Morris was forcibly hauled off to the infirmary, Jack and Rojas helped Major Sullivan stand up. "Are you alright, major?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir," he replied and touched his split lip, "he hits like a girl." This got a chuckle from the others.

"Let's get you down to Doc Fraiser also. What was his beef anyway?" Jack asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine, colonel. It started all of a sudden, and for no apparent reason, in the council chambers. We pulled him outside and out of earshot fast so the council wouldn't witness it. I didn't want to jeopardize the mission just because Paul was getting cranky. When he wouldn't calm down or back off I decided we needed to take him home. I told the townsman who was helping us with the introductions that we were coming to get you two. I think he was able to tell the council and they understood, if they didn't, they sure didn't show it. Actually they didn't react at all, just a nod from the middle guy," Rojas explained.

"Good job, colonel." Jack said and followed Sullivan to the infirmary.

Daniel remained talking with the lieutenant, "As soon as Dr. Fraiser clears Sullivan we should get back there. If they really didn't understand I don't want them thinking you left because of lack of interest in the trade."

It wasn't long before Fraiser rang up to General Hammond and told him Sullivan was fine, a few bruises and a cut lip were the only damage done. Hearing the good news the general gave a green light for the mission and sent them through the Gate. Hammond would have to wait for the lab results before he could deal with Captain Morris.

_** Chapter Five **_

As with many of the planets they visit, there was no real road leading from the Stargate to civilization; this one, however, didn't even have a dirt trail to follow. The only sign of Gate use was from SG4 and the MALP and they only knew where to go after reviewing the video taken by the UAV.

"We've seen a lot of things on other planets, but for the most part the planets' vegetations all seemed normal, with a few odd exceptions here and there. So would someone please tell me why this place is so different?" Daniel asked and looked around. The trees and grass looked almost right; the grass was green, but a little too wide and the tree leaves were also green, but the trunks were covered in three inch long thorns and were mostly light beige with an occasional pink or blue tint. More remarkable though were the flowers; the petals were all green and the stems were a wide variety of colors like Earth's flowers' petals. "This just makes no sense."

Jack looked up at the oddly yellow sky and shrugged, "I got nothin'," his words were punctuated by a sneeze from Daniel.

"Definitely no climbing trees around here," Lt. Kallen observed.

"Wonder why though. It stops animals from seeking refuge in them if they are being chased, and prevents arboreal life from making their homes there. Have you seen any birds in them?" Daniel asked.

"If you can call them birds, then yes. To me they look like small dragons with feathers," Kallen admitted. "The actual environment's chemical makeup is perfectly suited to human life. We had a botanist here yesterday taking samples of the indigenous flora. This morning's update, to and from the SGC, included an initial report from the botanist who says there is no clear reason why things look so different. He said he was running tests that he wouldn't know the results for a while. It seems to be cosmetic only, so it isn't high priority as you can imagine."

"Fascinating," Jack said sarcastically and changed the subject, "How far to the town?"

"Four klicks south, south, west, then another one to get to the council hall."

"Joy," Jack snarked and headed out, listening to Lt. Kallen drone on, in what ever detail he had, about the local fauna and indigenous people while they traveled.

Apparently, as Kallen informed them, the Norandans were ruled by a council of their elders, who were wise and caring of their people. Each elder trained an apprentice for decades to be sure he or she would be ready to assume their mentor's position when they died; they were positions for life so it wasn't uncommon for an apprentice to be trained for fifty years before getting a seat on the council. None of the negative side of politics went on here because the apprentice was chosen in his or her teens for ability and temperament, then guided in one of twelve specific areas of knowledge. Due to this lengthy training process they would have gained every bit of knowledge they needed so transitions were always smooth. During their apprenticeship they would go among the people to find out their needs and desires then report them back to the council and other apprentices all of which would collectively brainstorm the ways to provide the people what they wanted. Here socialism worked perfectly and no one was left wanting for long.

As they trekked the miles to town they noticed that it was farmland as far as the eye could see, and they were happy to finally come upon a very well kept packed-dirt road. They paused and watched a caravan with trade goods pass by. Lt. Kallen explained that it was an agrarian based society and they made everything themselves, caravanning the locally made goods in and out of the main cities where they would be distributed equally, at least this is how it was explained to him and SG4 seemed to believe them. Nothing about the Norandans seemed to be hidden or dishonest which encouraged Col. Rojas greatly since his reports clearly showed his positive feelings, when he was normally a very suspicious man like Jack.

"Why do I see metal pipes leading to the fields and dispensing water like we do on Earth, but that wagon was still wood and leather?" Daniel asked the question on all of their minds.

"That's actually one of the more interesting issues we have come across here," Lt. Kallen began. "The apprentices found, from talking to the people, that they preferred doing the work themselves because it made them proud to produce what ever it was that they made, and when offered technology they turn most of it down. They liked the pipes that brought water to their fields, but preferred plowing it on their own. They liked refrigerators to kept their food from spoiling, but still preferred cooking it in the hearth. The whole arrangement worked out well and allowed the inventors to work on more sophisticated concepts and create advances in mechanics and medicine; which is actually why they don't worry about anyone dying young, there is no disease and no reason to murder."

Lofting an eyebrow Daniel found that very interesting and wondered why Doc. Fraiser hadn't joined them to see about trading for medical information as well as this "big honkin' gun" Jack was so eager to get his hands on. He also found it fascinating that the Norandans felt technology was mostly an unnecessary luxury. If their few items went down, day to day life would change very little whereas on Earth nearly everything in a city was based on some gadget or another and if power was lost chaos would ensue. They had been lucky so far because there were thankfully rare, and relatively short, blackouts; hours and days, infrequently stretching to months and rarely years depending what happened. Permanent power loss on Earth would be like an apocalypse.

"Finally," Jack groused when the city came into site. On first glance it looked much like the depictions of the Medieval Europe, but when you looked carefully you could see small signs of more modern life; electrical and telephone wires, soft music played from somewhere, and there was a child playing with a remote control airplane. They also noticed there was no noise pollution created from items like cars or vacuums.

Passing the outlying homes and into the center of town there was a market square bustling with people trading items for items, no money seemed to change hands so the team wondered if there was a monetary system here at all. Everyone was very friendly and hospitable to the "strangers" who clearly stood out since the natives were all olive skinned with black hair and black eyes. Daniel's fair complexion, light brown hair, and blue eyes were all of great interest to the locals who approached him and caressed his hair or gently touched his skin—without asking—but always gently and they gave him gifts when he approached them. By the time they arrived at the council hall the archaeologist was gleefully covered in fine silks, necklaces, bracelets, spice bags and even a very small animal which looked somewhat like a mix between a cat, a rat and a bat.

They were met by a townsman who SG4 explained was also an apprentice. Rios explained to him that Daniel was Morris' replacement because he was more knowledgeable in languages and should have no problem continuing where they left off, which Daniel found out was right at the beginning.

Rojas introduced Daniel and Jack to the townsman, Ka'ah'p, who seemed to understand them. "Regretting me, speaking the council, the old tongue only."

"That's fine; I should be able to figure it out. Are there any protocols I should know of to address them?" Daniel asked while he unloaded his new 'treasures' into Jack's arms. When he got only a funny look he corrected himself, "Um, protocols, that means, is there a procedure, a method, an um, a way they like to be spoken to?"

This time Ka'ah'p smiled and nodded, "Speaking the council first. Speaking you the council says."

Daniel blinked and stared at the man until he figured that one out, "Oh! The council is going to tell me when I can speak."

"Agreeing me."

"Great, then let's get the show on the road," after getting the look again Daniel grinned, "I'm ready. Let's begin."

_** Chapter Six **_

Ten men and two women, each with an apprentice sitting behind them, sat in very comfortable looking chairs in a half circle, leaving room for whoever had come to speak with them in the center. The old man in the middle smiled benevolently; his hair still black as pitch, with only a streak of silver growing from each temple, his black eyes warm and wise, and a long black beard plaited in the most intricate way Daniel was sure it must have taken hours to do.

From what the apprentice told SG4 the council all got along very well and because of that they were much more effective than if there were any animosity among them. Apparently finding out people's true personalities was also part of the decades of training, but in the entire history of the council, only one apprentice was ever released for personality clash.

Jack, who had passed Daniel's treasures off to Lt. Kallen except the Cat/Rat/Bat which seemed to like Jack and clung to his shoulder, stayed behind Daniel so he wouldn't be a distraction, but close enough to protect him should things go wrong. He watched while the townsman/apprentice presented Daniel physically to the council, but said nothing until the eldest man in the middle gave him a nod as permission to speak. The apprentice said things Jack not only didn't understand, but that didn't sound like anything he'd ever heard before; it sounded like a bunch of clicks and pops to him. After he introduced Daniel, the elder spoke, slowly and at length, in the same clicks and pops. It was a good half an hour before they apparently dismissed the apprentice, though Daniel remained standing there calmly, quietly listening, still not given leave to speak.

"Sleeping you, he, they," Apprentice Ka'ah'p said as he returned to them from the council area, "Council Hall cell."

"Uh, cell? I don't think so," Jack refused and was slightly distracted when a chittering came from the creature on his shoulder which he nearly forgot was there because it was so light and quiet.

"Sir, he means bedroom. We stayed here the last three nights. They had food and drink for us too—three squares a day," Rojas announced.

"Ahhh, why didn't you just say so?" Jack smiled.

"Coming me, you."

"Huh?"

"He wants you to follow him. It seems like Yoda talk but with even less words."

"Gotcha. Keep an eye on Daniel while I take the tour," Jack ordered and wondered how a "primitive" civilization like this could be offering big honkin' space guns to trade, it had to be a miscommunication, but he hoped not, he really wanted those guns.

"Eating all," Ka'ah'p gestured at a sort of dining room/recreation area, "playing all." They then entered a small hallway with several doors, "Sleeping two," he opened a door and showed him a very small room with two thin beds against opposite walls separated by a single nightstand. "Sleeping two," another room exactly like the first. "Sleeping you, D'ahn'el," a third room like the first two.

"These first two rooms are for the others? And this one's for Daniel and me?" Jack grunted, 'cell' was right the rooms were smaller than the brig at the SGC.

"Agreeing me." Opening another door Ka'ah'p announced, "Grooming all."

Jack looked in and saw the bathroom, "Great, thanks." Luckily the man didn't understand sarcasm. They headed back to the main chamber.

"Seeing me, tomorrow you," Ka'ah'p said and left after Jack said goodbye.

"They let him talk yet?" Jack asked when he rejoined SG4.

"No, but they are each taking turns talking. I _think_ they are introducing themselves," Rojas informed him.

Looking at the large panel of people Jack saw the second person on the right speaking, "Well at least they're almost done."

"Actually not really. The guy in the middle spoke first, then the guy on the far right, this is only the third man to talk."

"Nuts. This is gonna be a very long, very boring time," he said and looked at his watch. "If they keep this pace, I'm gonna miss hockey season. The entire season," Jack groused.

_** Chapter Seven **_

Four grueling hours later the council broke for dinner, Daniel returned to Jack sighing deeply. "Four hours of names, occupations, and a list of reasons why they are in those positions and not someone else. There are still two more to go when we get back." Daniel bent his legs repeatedly trying to get the circulation to return to them after the long hours of standing. "They sit the whole time I stand, I hope to God when the introductions are finished they let me sit down too."

"It's kinda like the Ents," Lieutenant Kallen blurted out earning him odd looks from the others. "You know, Lord of the Rings. When Merry and Pipin ask the Tree Ents if they will help them fight, it took them forever to say anything also."

"Never saw it, too busy catching up on the games to even think about going out to a movie," Jack mumbled.

"I'm always translating. If it's not for the SGC it's for some museum," Daniel confessed and petted the cat/rat/bat on Jack's shoulder.

"Oh," the lieutenant deflated, "good movies, you should see them when you get the chance."

Dinner was filling, fruits of green, vegetables of blue and a meat that tasted like a cross between veal and bubble gum.

Daniel explained that he _could_understand the council, it being nearly identical to the language of the !Kung people in Africa, and he believed he could make the trade, _if_ they ever let him speak. He was pretty sure the council would talk well into the night so he told the others they should find something more exciting to do rather than standing around watching him. Jack nixed the idea of leaving him alone, but they would, instead, take watch rotation, just like when they slept in dangerous areas.

Two hours after the evening session began Daniel was finally given a chance to speak and he introduced himself in the same manner they had to him, which pleased them quite a bit and they agreed to listen to his trade request. At last, Daniel was given a chair so they could "begin" talking. He was finally allowed to go to bed at what his watch said was 0600 hours, and he was expected to rejoin them in four hours for the next session, having already washed and eaten.

Five days passed like this. Having gotten very little sleep, the poor archaeologist's allergies began acting up terribly and his immune system didn't handle that well at all. A depleted immune system wasn't the only effect the long days and little sleep had on Daniel. He was growing less and less patient with the drawn out manner of communication, but he did his best not to show it to anyone but Jack in their room during the few breaks he had.

"Don't worry Danny, I can take it. Bitch and moan all you want so you can get it out of your system. I know what it's like to need to blow off steam and _not_ be able to do it at who you want to. I'm surprised General Hammond puts up with my bitching as much as he does. Then again, he's _also_ letting me do it to him rather than whoever's on my shit list that day." Jack definitely understood how Daniel felt. He had wanted to rip Anise's arm off and beat her to death with it after the incident with the Atoneek armbands, so a little grousing from Daniel over this group of people was not going to bother him.

And bitch Daniel did, increasingly and in multiple languages, until it escalated to the point he was getting no sleep at all. Jack was sure if he could get Daniel a more powerful antihistamine than he had brought with him, he would feel better, he would be less grouchy and go back to the normally easy going guy he was.

"Here, take these. Janet just sent it all through. This one's long lasting, and this one is for more sudden symptoms. They can be taken together, so long as you don't take more than two of these a day with one of those. And tissues, all you can handle," Jack said handing Daniel two prescription bottles and a backpack full of tissues, after Rojas and Sullivan returned from the gate with the items.

"Great," Daniel mumbled and took the medication immediately. Jack wished he could take over for Daniel and let him get some rest. He even asked them to send Captain Morris back to take over for a day, sure if Daniel told Paul it was !Kung they spoke he'd be able to muddle through for at least eight hours. Rojas reported to Jack that the general wouldn't let him come because he was _still_ being a hot head over his failure to translate and negotiate requiring Daniel to come here in the first place.

Rojas took the next watch over Daniel at the negotiation table to let Jack have some downtime. Jack was also feeling the effects of the long negotiations, with nothing for him to do physically he found himself feeling more and more sluggish. He played cards with Sullivan and Kallen, glad the kid asked for a deck to be sent through with the meds, but soon he found himself not even wanting to play, deciding instead to head for the bedroom, with his now constant shoulder-companion which he named "Thing", so he could catch some sleep before Daniel returned for his nightly bitch session.

_** Chapter Eight **_

Jack woke with a start from deep in a dream when he heard Daniel slam the door. Unsteadily and with slowly focusing eyes, Jack looked to the nightstand where he'd put his watch, set to wake him around 0530 so he'd be awake and ready for Daniel to come whine, but only an hour and a half passed since he fell asleep and it was clear by Daniel's volume that he was more pissed than he'd been so far. He was already well into the various languages he knew and that didn't normally start till after a good hour or so of English. "Daniel?" Jack managed after a few minutes. "What's going on? You're way early," Jack struggled to sit up wishing the uncharacteristic grogginess would pass.

"This is _such_ a waste of time! I bet they won't give us the weapon, or it doesn't work!" Daniel reverted briefly to English before swinging into Dutch, German, Goa'uld and more, all meshed into a string of nonsense. He paced, shouted and gestured wildly. Jack had already explained to SG4 what was happening and told them he was going to let Daniel vent, so not to worry whatever they heard, it was just best to let him get it all out rather than blow up at the council.

Jack swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat leaning against the wall, sending Thing scrambling from Jack's hip where it was sleeping, to his shoulder. He was in for a much longer session tonight and he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep to comprehend the small amounts of ranting he usually could. He rubbed his face to try to wake up but it wasn't helping.

It wasn't until Daniel yelled, "and _you_!" that Jack began to pay attention again. Now it seemed he was yelling at Jack personally. At first he thought it was no big deal, just part of Daniel's need to vent until he heard, "Shol'va!" Now _that_ was a word Jack knew no matter how tired he was, and he didn't particularly like being called a traitor.

Standing up to meet Daniel face to face Jack interrupted the tirade, "Daniel, calm down ok? There's no need to be name calling. I'm on your side here. Come on, lay down and get some rest." He'd never known Daniel to whine as much as he had been the past few days, but for him to get personal and start yelling at Jack for no apparent reason, or anyone else for that matter, was way out of character and it worried him. "You can actually get a full night's sleep tonight. I'll get you some aspirin and we'll hit the sack ok?"

"No! Not ok! ¡Ni pensarlo!" back to other languages Daniel went, and Jack got the distinct feeling that whatever Daniel was now calling him wasn't flattering either.

As Jack tried to make heads or tails of what Daniel was saying, he heard words that he knew, but made no sense coming from Daniel or aimed at Jack. "What are you saying? I can't understand you!"

Daniel began poking Jack in the chest in a very accusatory manner, "Didn't you! Don't lie! I'll know if you lie Jack!"

"Ow! Stop that! And didn't I what?"

"You fucked him! I know it!"

This confused Jack even more, "What the _hell_are you talking about?"

"Giles, Ripper, whatever you call him. You can't deny you fucked him!"

Jack opened his mouth, closed it, and then repeated the process several times, no words coming to him. Daniel had to be hallucinating from the lack of sleep, "Ripper isn't even here!"

"Ha'shak!" Daniel yelled, "Not _now_, before, Jack, before!" he accused then changed languages again. When he shoved Jack backwards, he was nearly ready to kill Daniel out of frustration.

"You were there! He was having nightmares. I stayed in the room to calm him down!" Jack had to work very hard _not_to shove Daniel back, knowing it was just lack of sleep and not feeling well making him behave like this.

Another long round of mixed language cursing came out before Daniel shook his head, "Back then, back when you met! You were lovers! You can't deny it!"

"What the _hell_ does it matter what I did twenty five years ago?!"

"You admit it then! Cythrel! Verräter!"

"Yes! Fine! So what?! I didn't even know you in those days so why does it matter to you?"

Apparently that was the very _wrong_ thing to say and Daniel exploded in a fury Jack had never seen the likes of from him; not when Apophis took Sha're, not when he found out she was pregnant with that bastard's child, not when Teal'c killed her, not even when Daniel found out Hathor raped him to spawn Goa'uld larvae in order to start a new army of Jaffa. There was no single moment Jack had witnessed Daniel this insanely angry. Now English was long forgotten and Daniel's shoving became punching, and the punching was stronger than Jack had ever felt during their workout sessions. Daniel seemed to be _trying_to beat the hell out of him.

"Stop it Daniel or I _will_ hit back!" But he wouldn't stop and soon the two men were trading blow for blow; Daniel in a rage, Jack getting there quickly. Jack repeatedly tried to end it by knocking Daniel out, but none of the hits that _should_ have taken him down succeeded. Running on adrenaline and what Jack could only decide was displaced anger, Daniel was stronger, faster and more willing to do real damage than he ever should have been, and for the first time ever, more than Jack could handle, so reluctantly Jack dove for his gun under his pillow. Just when his hand grabbed the gun, Daniel tackled him causing Jack's head to collide with the wall; a resounding crack preceded Jack's blackout.

_** Chapter Nine **_

Awareness came very slowly; sounds first, smells second, pain third, and there was a _lot_ of pain. For a while he didn't know there was, or even could be, more than that. There was no actual self awareness yet, and soon the other sensations faded out entirely once more.

An unknown amount of time later the pain returned in full force and he heard a pitiful moan, that's when he realized some of the pain was in his throat and the moan came from him. This time he knew he was a person, and that these pains were not his normal state of existence. He tried moving his hands, but his body screamed at him for the effort. He tested his body, part by part, and nothing at all moved, not even his eyelids. He attempted to moan louder to try getting someone's attention, fortunately it worked and he heard a familiar voice.

"Sir! Are you awake?! Dr. Fraiser the colonel's awake!" the voice said, then he felt a hand touching his shin. "Sir, Janet's coming. Try to stay with us ok?"

Grunting was the only way he could reply.

"Colonel O'Neill? Jack? Can you hear me?" A second female voice said.

Another grunt.

"Good!" the second voice enthusiastically replied, "Hold still for a moment, you're intubated, I need to take out the tube before you can speak. When I say to, exhale hard so I can pull it out. Ok?" Grunt. "Ok, _now_, Jack, hard!"

With all his might Jack exhaled and wound up in the throes of a harsh coughing fit that made his body scream at him again.

"Sir, breathe slowly," the first voice said and he felt a pat on his shin.

"Alright, you did great. You did great… Try not to speak much, but tell me if you know where you are."

Stupid question, he thought. The first voice told him Dr. Fraiser was coming, and he fit the name to the second voice, so that meant he had to be in, "the infirmary, SGC," he rasped out.

"Good, can you tell me what happened to you?"

He thought about it but everything was fuzzy, "No," he admitted.

"That's ok, you just woke up. You'll likely remember later," though to Jack it seemed she hoped he wouldn't. "I'm going to remove the bandages over your eyes and change the dressing on your head. Keep your eyes closed until I say it's alright to open them."

"Pain," he grunted.

"I know Jack. I'll give you something for it soon, but I need you lucid for a bit first." Careful hands worked on removing two gauze bandages held on by a gauze wrap.

His eyes felt swollen and when she said he could open them, he found out they _were_ swollen and crusted with dry fluid, probably blood.

"Oh, Janet," the first voice whispered clearly upset.

Jack looked up and saw the concerned red head looking down at him and past her an equally concerned blond, _Carter, I know her_, he realized.

"The swelling will go down over the next couple of days. The surgery added to the puffiness or it would have been down already."

"Surgery?"

The doctor, Janet Fraiser, great woman, Jack recalled, took a deep breath, "You came in severely injured Jack. Your left wrist was broken, right shoulder dislocated, three ribs on your left side cracked, multiple contusions and abrasions, but the worst of it was a severe skull fracture just at your hairline on the right side. That was the surgery that caused the extra swelling, though you had two black eyes to begin with."

This was all very confusing, but if his skull had been broken, it made sense he'd be fuzzy, "How?" He didn't want to wait until he could remember on his own, he wanted the information _now_.

Another deep breath sighed out from Janet while she remembered the story Col. Rojas' told her:

"_It was actually that animal they gave to Dr. Jackson that alerted us," Rojas began. "See they had given him a bunch of stuff 'cause he looked nothing like them and they thought he was special because of it, a sign of good luck or something I guess. Anyway, along with the fabric and jewelry, they gave him this critter that was like a cross between a cat and a rat with bat wings. Jackson dumped everything in Col. O'Neill's arms when he had to meet the council 'cause we weren't taken to the rooms first, so he had to put it all somewhere right? Well the thing, O'Neill actually named it "Thing," it took a liking to him something fierce and wouldn't leave his shoulder if it could help it. During our down time, Lt. Kallen sometimes fed it fruit and stuff, so I guess it got to like him too. _

"_Anyway, Sullivan and I had sent Jackson to his room; he got real cranky real early so we thought it best he take a break. We went into Sullivan and Kallen's room, 'cause we were talking over how bad Jackson's mood had gotten and how weird that was for him. Lt. Kallen had already been asleep for a while, we were taking shifts watching over Jackson and his turn was earlier. So we were talking and suddenly Kallen sits bolt upright in bed and kinda looks dazed, had a far off look on his face, see? And at first we thought it was a nightmare or something like that, but when Kallen stayed stiff, Sully gave him a shake and yelled his name. When he comes to he says, 'Col. O'Neill's in trouble.'_

"'_Nah, Daniel's just letting off steam early,' I said and told him how our normally easygoing archeologist was behaving like a drunken sailor and had to be sent to his room. _

"_But Kallen was insistent, said that Jackson had gone nuts and was beating the shit out of the colonel. We tried to hear anything that sounded like a fight, but there was just the shouting. The colonel had given us strict instructions not to interfere when we heard Jackson ranting, that it was important to let him vent and might get really loud. I told him I didn't hear any signs of battle and then Kallen said the strangest thing: 'I don't hear it, I am _seeing_ it!' and he ran from the room. We took off after him and sure enough, we got into the hallway and heard gunfire. Kallen burst through the door and we all saw Jackson kicking the colonel in the ribs. The colonel himself was clearly unconscious, half on the bed half on the floor with his pistol loosely gripped in his limp hand. He had blood coming from his head and we couldn't tell if it was from the shot or something else until we saw the blood on the wall about a foot higher than the hole with a bullet in it._

"_It took all three of us to pull Jackson off of the colonel and we couldn't get the zip cuffs on him till the animal swooped in from above and bit Jackson on the shoulder, releasing some sort of toxin into him that made him pass out till we got near the gate. That's when Kallen realized that it was the critter that sent him the visions of what was happening; basically that was its way of calling for help."_

How could Janet tell Jack any of this? She couldn't and wouldn't. She wanted him to remember on his own, it was better that he did because her telling him could put him into shock or worse. They always said it was best to let amnesia victims remember things on their own, at their own pace, and that's the rule she'd go by now. "You were beaten up and when diving for your pistol, you were tackled causing your head to hit the wall."

"Who?"

"Later, right now I want you to answer some quick questions so I can evaluate your status."

He wasn't happy about it, but he answered as best as he could, his reward was the pain medication he needed.

_** Chapter Ten **_

"Get the hell away from me!" Daniel screamed at the nurse. His injuries were minor, already well on their way to being healed, but his mind was still not that of the man they knew. Spewing profanity in over 23 languages and attempting to punch, kick, and even bite anyone near him earned Doctor Daniel Jackson full bed restraints and a face mask on par with that of Hannibal Lector's.

Captain Morris had been difficult, but he hadn't been on the planet as long as Daniel, and was no where near as run down. He also hadn't used the powerful antihistamines Daniel had, his allergies being mild in comparison. Janet had no way to tell how long this might last.

What was worse was; despite the harm he'd done to Jack, he seemed in no way remorseful. When this ended and Daniel came back to normal, he could very well become so upset with himself that he would _still_ be a danger to himself, if not others.

When asked what he did to Jack and why, they got a string of sentences vehemently spit at them, but because practically every other word was in a different language, no one had been able to translate it. Sam and Teal'c were working on deciphering what had been recorded since the moment the two men were carried back through the wormhole; one unconscious, the other kicking and screaming.

Both Sam and Teal'c blamed themselves, deciding if they had been there they could somehow have stopped it from happening. Neither would stop working on the translation even long enough to go to the cafeteria to eat, so Dr. Fraiser had food sent up to them regularly, which they ate hunched over the computer while they worked.

When at last they had some measure of success Sam shook her head, "No, this makes no sense. I must have misheard or used the wrong languages."

"How would that be possible Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.

"Well, some words have more than one meaning in a single language, for instance elaborate can be a verb or adjective depending on how it's being pronounced and the sentence it's being used in. Then there are words that are spelled differently, sound the same but have different meanings like M E A T is beef or pork, but M E E T is to become acquainted with. There are also words that sound the same, but in two different languages mean entirely different things. For example a Nova is a star that flairs up in intensity then fades back to normal in time, but in Spanish 'no va' means 'won't go.'" She explained this all rapidly, but the Jaffa kept up with her.

"We have the added difficulty of not knowing all of the alien languages DanielJackson knows. I do not know Unas, however, I believe these words to be of that language," Teal'c pointed to three words while he spoke.

"Exactly." Sam shook her head and looked at the note pad with their translation on it. "Daniel can't possibly have meant this."

"Perhaps he was speaking without thought, as one with a high fever may do."

Nodding Sam sighed, "In which case, translating this could be just a huge waste of time that we could have spent in the lab working with Janet or even questioning Captain Morris."

"Indeed."

Gathering up her notes Sam said, "Let's show this to Janet, see what she thinks."

When Dr. Fraiser looked at the yellow pad before her she was at a loss for words, "Has anyone else seen this? Is it in the computer anywhere?"

"No, you're the first and the only things in the computer are the videos and language files. I took the notes by hand. If someone else tries to translate it they would have to go into Daniel's office and use some of his journals as well to come up with this," Sam assured the doctor.

"Good, no one is to see it either."

"You think this might actually be what Daniel is saying?"

With a slow inhalation of breath Janet said, "Yes. It would make sense in conjunction with the type and severity of the wounds he gave Jack. Now whether he actually _believes_ this or it was brought on by the paranoia I don't know, which is why I don't want anyone else knowing what he's saying."

"Do you want us to keep translating?"

"Skip ahead to the questioning. See if he gave any real answers that will help us," Janet requested and the two concerned friends returned to their difficult task.


	3. Chapter 3

_** Chapter Eleven **_

Several days later Jack found himself awake more than asleep and much less fuzzy of mind. Lunch came and with it, General Hammond. "Colonel, you're looking much better today."

"Thank you, sir," Jack said in his normally chipper way, though it was clear he was anything but chipper at having to be fed because his arms were out of commission.

"Dr. Fraiser says you'll be allowed to recuperate at home in a week if you prefer it to here. She wants you to be able to do some more things on your own and off the heavy medications before releasing you. We'll send a home care worker with you to assist."

"I'd rather not bring a stranger home with me," Jack said then looked at the male nurse helping him eat, "no offence." He looked back at the general, "Why can't Daniel just come home and help me?"

This produced a shocked look on the general's normally even face, "You don't remember yet?"

Jack shook his head and Janet came in as the general asked the question, "Daniel is under quarantine, colonel. General Hammond, I'd like to speak to you about that." The general nodded and left the colonel alone with his nurse and lunch.

Once out of earshot from Jack, Janet sighed, "He doesn't remember yet. His mind is recovering well, thankfully, but I have a feeling he may have blocked out the attack. You know how close they were and since Daniel's descension, Jack and he have become nearly inseparable, as if Jack feels to let Daniel out of his sight would result in him dying or ascending again. He's very over protective of him and maybe his mind won't allow him to remember what happened."

Nodding quietly the general thought over things, "And Doctor Jackson? Is _he_ recovering?"

"It's hard to tell it by listening to him, but his blood work says yes. There has been no negative side effect from the animal's venom, but the lab can't get another sample from it for testing. Apparently it only produces the venom when it _needs_to use it. In all other ways, other than its very odd form, its perfectly normal and is no danger to our people.

"The bigger underlying cause of Daniel's outburst, however, is the planet's flora and his antihistamine. The antihistamine that triggered the final reaction is only now starting to leave his system, but the violence isn't nearly over. It was just yesterday Captain Morris finally cleared out the last of the pollen. His violent reactions faded once it was all clear and he took a much milder medication than Daniel because his allergies are far less severe. I have a feeling Daniel will recover in the same manner, but slower due to his extended time on the planet; the lack of sleep caused him to be much more run down and unable to fight off the effects of the flora.

"In effect the situation is the exact opposite of the histamine disease of P3X-797 which caused the people who had high histamine levels to become primitive and caveman like. In this case Daniel's low histamine level allowed the odd reversal of botanical infrastructure to tap into the negative basic instincts similarly. The anger and paranoia Captain Morris displayed was followed by violent outbursts, I am sure that the same happened to Daniel, though we only saw the violence, I am sure Jack saw the growing anger and paranoia. It may be a while but both men will recover physically. Mentally, when they both realize what Daniel's done, I'm not sure Daniel will ever forgive himself, and frankly I have no idea what to expect of the colonel."

"Do what you can Dr. Fraiser, these boys mean the world to me, and each other, not to mention Major Carter and Teal'c. I don't want to see this ruin SG1's personal bond."

"Yes, sir," but what _could_ she do? She healed the body not the mind and neither one of them trusted the mental profession since the terrible situation of the Legacy Virus.

When she returned to Jack's area she heard him fussing with the nurse, "Let me do it! I'm not moving my shoulder just my elbow and wrist. The sooner I get this working the sooner I get out of here." Then he spied the doctor, "Oh hey, Doc, get this guy to let me feed myself."

"It's too soon Jack. You need someone caring for you."

"But… hey!! I've got someone to do the job. An old friend is staying at my cabin. Send me back there and I'll be waited on hand and foot just like you want."

Folding her arms Janet looked at the miserable colonel and thought about it, "A few more days here and I go with you to tell who ever it is the instructions for your care. And, it's to be your place in Colorado Springs, not the cabin so I can be close if you need me."

It was a good offer, the best he'd get from her, "Deal."

_** Chapter Twelve **_

"If there are any problems I want you to call me immediately, this is my private cell phone number, any time day or night for him. Do you have any questions on the instructions I've given you Mr. Giles?" Dr. Fraiser asked the Englishman.

"Should this be on a full stomach or empty?" he asked holding one of the pill bottles.

"That one full, these others can be either, and don't let the colonel give you a hard time about eating, he'll say he's fine, but when he's in pain he's just being cranky and trying to get you to leave him alone faster."

Giles chuckled and nodded, "Yes, I remember, he's been like that forever."

"How far _do_ you and he go back?" she asked, her interest piqued at his remark.

"Over twenty five years."

"Wow, you _do_go back a ways, well before he married I believe."

"Yes, I was at the wedding actually."

"Well then I'm really glad Jack has someone so close to him at this time. I expect him to recover his memories. If and when he does it will be quite a shock. I'm not sure how he will react, but I _am_sure whatever happens he will be helped greatly to have such a dear friend at his side." Janet patted Giles's hand then closed her med kit. "Remember to call me for anything; I can get here in a couple of minutes. I appreciate your coming to Colorado Springs. His cabin was just too far away for me to be able to properly care for him if an emergency should arise," she admitted and picked up her bag from the table.

"I'm glad I could be here for him. The timing is uncanny, if this had happened two weeks sooner, I'd still have been in California. Don't worry doctor; I'll do my best for him." They shook hands and he showed her out.

For someone who said so much she told him very little. He wasn't told who had done this to Jack, why, or where he was when it happened. She said it was all classified and only told him how to care for Jack's various wounds.

Giles made his way through Jack's home and entered the bedroom after gently knocking on the door. Jack was set up in bed and looked none too happy to be there. "She's given me instructions and gone. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, I _need_ to get out of this bed. I've been in one long enough and I'm ready to get out now," Jack groused.

"Mac…" Giles began in a warning tone that actually shut Jack up, leaving him no need to continue the rebuke. Smiling at his minor victory he moved to sit on the side of the bed, resting his hand on Jack's shin like Major Cater had done that first day he was awake. "Much better. Now, I've decided to take you up on your offer for employment, as has Xander, Willow hasn't said anything either way yet. If this is the sort of thing we can look forward to I will do my best to convince Willow to join. For now, you'll just have to put up with my meager abilities." Giles rose and pulled out some herbs from his pocket that Willow instructed him to get on his way to Colorado. He lit the bundle which gave off only smoke rather than catching fully on fire then recited the spell he already knew from ages ago.

"Ripper, what are you doing?" Jack asked accusingly.

The only reply Jack got was a second recitation of the spell along with Giles moving the smoking bale over the full length of Jack's body, lingering longer over the broken wrist, broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, and a _lot_ longer over the crack in his skull.

This time Jack waited until Giles was finished speaking before asking again, "What the _hell_ was that about?"

"A spell to aid your healing. I'm not as good as Willow, but it will help speed things along," Giles explained and blew out the herbs then placed them on the night stand.

"Willow does this spell stuff too?"

Giles chuckled, "Oh yes quite well. She is the most powerful witch alive, perhaps that ever lived. She once brought Buffy back from the dead," he revealed.

Jack blinked several times and was about to say "bullshit that's impossible," but then he remembered the sarcophagus and while he had no idea how it worked, he knew first hand that it _did_ work. And while he'd been told many stories about things that go bump in the night, he never believed in magic, though he never looked down at Giles for his belief. Jack believed that Giles believed and that was good enough for him. He suspected he would never 100 believe unless _he_ experienced it first hand, so he was definitely interested to see what, if anything, Giles's spell would do for him. "So, if she's so powerful, why didn't she do something to prevent the others from dying?"

Now the Englishman sucked in a slow deep breath, "Because she was already casting a powerful spell to make all potential slayers into full slayers, which turned the tide enough so that our girls could keep the First's minions from escaping hell and destroying the world."

Jack was a bit shocked; it was _his_ job to save the world, "Well, we're still here so I guess it worked."

"It did indeed. Our deep losses cannot compare with what would have happened without Willow's spell."

"Why doesn't she bring them all back from the dead then?"

Giles shook his head, "Very bad things happen. I don't think Willow will try that anymore. Buffy was like a daughter to me, and yet I would never allow anyone to bring her back again. She's earned the right to rest in peace."

Jack nodded solemnly. He didn't know much about "The Slayer", but he knew she was a warrior for good and that made her alright in Jack's book. "So, is that why you decided to come work with us? She gets to finally rest, so you do too?"

"No. There are quite a few new slayers to be trained. Slaying is no longer the responsibility of just one girl; they can go out in numbers and fight more efficiently than ever before. But I… I just don't think I can go back to it. Other Watchers survived, I'll speak with them and let them know what's happened, but I don't think I can see another girl in my care die." Giles didn't see the actual battle, but he knew what happened; he sent all those girls into the Hellmouth, and they all died there. He had no idea how many were slain by the enemy versus how many were crushed in the collapse of the cavern they were battling in, but in the end they all died on his watch and it wasn't something he could bare again.

Looking at his friends face, Jack could see the anguish in Giles threatening to overwhelm him again, but he needed to know the truth, "I can't promise no one will ever die when you come to work with us. We've lost a lot of really good people over the years. But we are trained soldiers who volunteered for duty, not young girls who fate dealt a crappy hand to."

"I know, I've thought about that too. I still want to help the world, that hasn't changed, and it was the very fact that your soldiers are volunteers not children without a choice that helped me make my decision," Giles revealed. The Potentials were scared teenagers doing what they were told they had to do, rather than what they wanted. Faith had been different from the other girls, she truly enjoyed being a Slayer, but he knew from the beginning that Buffy would rather have had a typical teenage girl's life, much as most of the Potentials wanted and could never have. That is what struck Giles hardest, the thing he couldn't go back to doing; he couldn't be the one to tear the new Slayers out of their normal happy lives, turn them into warriors then send them to die.

Nodding again Jack said, "Just didn't want you to come into this thinking it was going to be all safe translating. Daniel's been injured more times than I can count. I don't remember what happened this time, but I can tell you it was just a negotiation, we were working out a trade and he was the only one that knew the language they spoke. It was supposed to be a safe, boring mission and Fraiser says I nearly died. Anything can happen and usually does, especially to Daniel. He's been in quarantine since we got back, wish I could remember what happened to us. Hey, maybe you have a spell there to help me remember?" Jack asked hopefully.

"I do, but your doctor said you will remember it on your own when you are ready for those memories, so I am sorry, but I can't help you in that way." Jack pouted, Giles patted his knee and changed the subject, "How about some food? Are you hungry?"

For a moment Jack was about to say he was fine, like always, but while his mouth opened to form the words his eyes met Giles's and he changed his mind, "Yeah, I guess so. You still make that great spiced soup?"

A smile spread over the Englishman's lips and touched his eyes, "I do." Giles was very pleased with the question because, back in the day, spiced soup was what he made to nurse Jack back to health after a particularly nasty bout of pneumonia. It also meant he accepted the idea of letting Giles take care of him, rather than trying to push him away like he used to do. He didn't know if Jack mellowed in his old age or if he was truly shaken by his injuries; neither scenario seemed likely.

Two bowls of spiced soup and enough honey-toast for two, was soon placed on the nightstand. Giles sat on the bed next to Jack's hip and smiled, "I'm glad you had me meet you here so I could help you. I know you likely just wanted out of hospital, but I'm glad you called on me rather than one of your teammates."

"I was killing two birds with one stone there, maybe three. Sure it's good for me, but you also don't have to be Mr. Stoic Guy for Xander and Willow. Here we can take care of my body and your mind. Plus the kids have the cabin to themselves and don't have to worry about mourning in front of a stranger."

"Incredible thinking for a man who had a broken skull," Giles chuckled and held one of the bowls in front of him, blowing on a spoonful of soup to cool it. Quite incredible thinking actually, with an injury to the head like Jack's he expected more short term memory loss. Sure he could accept Jack remembering him after the surgery, but the fact that he had suffered a tragedy, brought two strangers into his cabin whose names he also remembered, and even remembered what his mission was prior to his attack, yet he couldn't remember who assaulted him? That made his brain itch with a thought just out of grasp. He fed Jack the first spoonful while he tried to figure it out.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Giles drank the next spoonful himself, then gave the next to Jack again, alternating between them, not just with the soup, but bites of toast as well. When he gave up trying to capture the rogue thought he realized he'd fallen back into his old habit of sharing food with Jack. "Oh! Mac, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jack asked around a mouthful of bread.

"For this, assuming you'd still be willing or even wanting to share foo—"

"Have I ever stopped you before?"

"But it's been so long and—"

"And it had been 'so long' before we _last_ got together, did I stop you then?"

"Well, no, you and I were, well, the same as if we'd never parted."

"Exactly, and unless things have changed with you, which I believe our necking on my cabin's couch indicated they haven't, I think it's fairly safe to assume the 'old rules' still apply."

"Oh, no, nothing's changed toward my feelings—"

"Ah, ah , ah!" Jack interrupted wagging a finger at him.

"Quite right, nothing's changed in how I regard you." They didn't use the word "feelings" when it came to matters of the heart. It was Giles's demand actually. "Feelings are for girls. We're men, we've got a bond that goes way beyond girly feelings," Ripper said while he lay nude next to Mac, smoking in post-gratification bliss. Relationships were something men had with women and they were hard to keep going. You had to work on a relationship and had to decipher the feelings the girl had. Ripper had told Mac that they were bonded in a way no man could bond with a woman. What they had was pure love and understanding on a spiritual level.

Neither man considered himself a deviant for breaking the taboo of homosexuality. They were both very comfortable with their special situation, except the fact that since Mac was Special Forces nothing of their escapades could get out into main-stream knowledge. Those men who had never experienced their kind of bond couldn't understand that it was the most natural thing in the world not some perverted act of depravity.

Each man was firmly inside the other's heart and neither time nor distance apart had ever changed that. Every time they were back together, and alone with each other, it was like they'd always been together. Sure things changed, even the men they were changed, but when all was said and done, who they were to each other was the same.

Giles couldn't help himself, despite Jack's injuries he put the empty bowl down and before picking up the other to resume feeding them, he bent over and kissed Jack in a deep soul scorching kiss that he was pleased to feel returned with just as much passion but less strength, due to Jack's level of injury. "Muirnin," Giles whispered the Gaelic endearment, which Jack repeated in a whisper. "Heal quickly," Giles nuzzled against Jack's ear, then sat up and resumed lunch.

_** Chapter Thirteen **_

Giles had left for Colorado Springs that morning, a taxi picked him up and took him to the airport so he could fly rather than drive the beaten yellow school bus. This left Xander and Willow alone in the cabin and Xander, though he wished Giles had stayed, found it far easier for Willow and himself to move around in the cabin without worrying about avoiding others. Xander was fine with Jack and Daniel's being around, but Willow was too shaken to deal with anyone else yet.

Every death hits people differently and while they had to deal with far too many deaths already in their young lives, this time was different because of the shear number of people they'd lost.

It was an almost impossible task to grieve for them all and not loose oneself in the process. Sure Xander lost as much as Willow had this time, but Willow had also lost Tara and gone insane over it, so it was even more difficult for her, because she had to battle those horrible memories that returned with a vengeance and try to keep all of the emotions from overwhelming her.

This time, however, Xander was by her side, never leaving her alone, always reminding her how much he loved her and calming her fears that she might go dark again. He promised that he wouldn't let that happen and vowed not to leave her alone. Now though, with every one away, Xander convinced her to come out of Jack's room and hang out in the living room for a change of scenery.

Lunch consisted of PB&J on rye with milk, not because Xander couldn't make anything else, but because it was comfort food so was exactly what they needed right then.

"I was thinking maybe we'd go out back later and have a look at the lake, get some fresh mountain airy goodness," Xander said after a gulp of milk.

Willow shrugged and continued eating, her mind so completely elsewhere.

Xander helped her change out of her nightclothes and into shorts and a t-shirt, did the same for himself, then led Willow out the back door.

The view really was spectacular and even the introspective Willow looked out with awe at the private lake surrounded by woods as far as the eye could see with other mountains in the distance; Mother Nature at her best. Rather than go to the deck where there were a few chairs set up for fishing, they turned right and strolled around the lake's edge to a shade tree that just begged to be sat under.

Sitting side by side with their backs leaning against the large trunk, Willow and Xander allowed themselves to relax and clear their minds of anything but the physical area around them; listening close they could pick out individual animal sounds from the leaves rustling in the wind.

Willow closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh air deeply; while she exhaled she imagined all the despair seeping out of her. She let herself commune with nature the way she had back in England while she recovered from her dark period. This gave Xander time to reflect as well and hours passed by with the two side by side in comfortable silent meditation.

Finally Willow broke the silence, taking Xander's hand in hers, "You've really been great Xander."

"Huh??" he asked opening his eye and shifting mental gears.

"To me. Taking care of me. You've really been great."

"Oh I was just doing it to see you naked," he joked and was rewarded with a soft smile that spread across her lips and twinkled in her eyes.

"I'm serious. I couldn't deal with everything so you took over where I stopped. You gave me the time I needed to deal with my thoughts by making sure I didn't have to worry about my body."

Xander shrugged, "You're my Willow. What else was I gonna do?" He tried to play down what he'd done, uncomfortable for being thanked for something like this. To him there was never a thought of "should I be doing this," only of how he could do it most efficiently without hurting her physically while moving her around.

"What would I do without you?" she wondered aloud.

"Let's never find out ok?"

Nodding in agreement Willow squeezed his hand and looked back over the lake. "Last one in makes dinner," she announced with a smile and jumped up to dash toward the inviting water.

_** Chapter Fourteen **_

"Just give it some thought, Willow, even if you don't want to join them permanently, Mac really could use the healing. You don't have to make the final decision until you are completely ready," Giles said into the phone.

"Alright, Giles. Xander and I will be there in a few days, a week at the most. We were planning to stop by ground zero to get all the things you wanted and some other stuff. We'll call when we're on our way."

"Thank you. Be careful." Giles wished her well and disconnected.

"Time to go Xander, I need to get some questions answered. I need to know if I failed them," the somber red-head said.

Xander also needed the answers. They had fled Sunnydale while it was collapsing so they both needed closure that could only come with going back to where it all happened. By now the swarm of emergency rescue teams would have left and they _should_ be able to poke around the outskirts of the sunken city and with a bit of magic, get to the ruins itself.

The drive to the cabin was near thirty hours so they packed all the food left in the fridge and the few of outfits they'd gotten, closing up the cabin tight since they didn't plan to return and didn't want to leave it a mess for their kind, and apparently terribly injured, host.

Rather than driving straight through with minimal breaks, like they had done the first time, they took two days then found a local hotel to use for their "base of operations." Willow wanted to do a few preparatory spells out of sight from the locals so they could get in and out as soon as possible. It had only been three weeks since Sunnydale sunk and while they were sure all major efforts at emergency rescue would be over due to the evacuation leaving only them behind, they were also sure they would be noticed poking around the huge crater. Camouflage spells on both of them would allow them to walk around without complications.

The crater created by the Hellmouth's collapse was akin to a meteor landing, it seemed like nothing was left, nor could be left. Willow and Xander, however, knew all too well that looks were deceiving when it came to the Hellmouth.

"Gotta say, this is freaking me out," Xander confessed and clung to his best friend while she flew them to the center of the crater, where they knew ground zero was; where their friends had died.

"I told you, you don't need to hold on like that. The magic will hold us both, just hold my hand."

"Yeah I heard, but my mind disagrees with my ears," he quipped while his wide eye watched the ground go by under them.

Willow rolled her eyes and partially smiled, shaking her head gently, _same old Xander_, she thought. She set them down and shivered, but not from cold, "This is it, right here."

"What do you want to do?" Xander asked hugging her gently.

"I want to give them a proper burial. Their families deserve to have a place to go to mourn, and they deserve better than to be piled up under the rubble." She sent her senses down and all around to both find the bodies and see if there was more she could have done to prevent this from happening.

"There were so many. Where will we put them until they can be taken home?" The thought of all the slayers' bodies was overwhelming.

"That won't be a problem. I'm one with the Earth now; I can put the bodies in cemeteries by their homes. I'll have to contact the families to let them know where they are and where to put the gravestones." She thought quietly for a moment, "Where should I put Buffy and Dawn? This _was_ their home."

"Our's too. Where are _we_ going to go now?"

"Colorado Springs for a bit, after that, who knows."

"I guess I'll be staying there. Jack and I talked about me joining the Air Force, to work at his base. Giles also said he might go to work with Daniel in the research department. You should join us, Will, we should all stay together." Xander couldn't stand the idea of them splitting up, not even from Giles, they'd lost too much too fast, if Giles moved away from them, well Xander didn't want to think about that at all.

"Maybe, if there's a place for a witch/hacker in the Air Force," Willow said with a shrug.

"I'm sure you can work with Daniel and Giles in research," Xander offered and then got an idea. "We could put Buffy and Dawn in L.A. where their dad is."

"Buffy's dad, no, not good. I doubt that the monks added Dawn to Hank's memories since he was out of the picture by then. If he sees Dawn's gravestone he won't know who she is and there's no way we can explain it. Joyce was buried here at our cemetery; her dad would expect Buffy's body to be lost with Sunnydale. We're the only family they have now."

Xander nodded solemnly and was quiet for a while, but then he perked up. "You saw all that land around Jack's cabin. It was really beautiful. I think after a life in the city battling the undead maybe they'd appreciate a mountain view."

Smiling fully now Willow nodded, "That's perfect. I'm going to put Joyce there with them. I think they'd like that," then softly she whispered, "Tara, Kennedy and Anya too."

Quietly Willow worked her magic and Xander saw nothing happen, she explained it was all happening underground. She even found a place for Andrew, their former foe turned ally, to spend his eternal rest. Giles had been right, however, when he said Willow wouldn't resurrect any of them, and not just because of the "hitchhiker" that returned with Buffy. The whole can't raise Tara, Dark Willow, situation taught the young witch a lot more than even Giles knew, and while it hurt, and she cried while she moved the bodies, she knew it was better this way. This was also helping Willow and Xander gain the closure they needed while they hugged, cried and told stories about those they loved and lost.

Once all the bodies were relocated, taking far less out of Willow now than it would have before she so thoroughly connected with the Earth, she brought up the Slayer Scythe and handed it to Xander. "This should be passed on." Xander agreed and shook the dirt and vampire ash off the weapon. "Let's go back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will go over to the Magic Box, Giles's apartment, and Buffy's house for the stuff Giles needs."

The next few days consisted of Willow teleporting books, artifacts, and other "special" items through the earth to a nearby abandoned area of land where Xander waited with a rented moving van, picking up the objects when they appeared "growing" on the garden ground, and loading them on the truck. It was a lot of manual labor on his part, but he was glad because it worked out his body while he worked out his mind, contemplating a future in a special unit of the Air Force that he had no idea what they did. Life as a carpenter was appealing, but he knew he'd get bored without any action of the slaying variety. For a moment Xander even hoped that it was like a different branch of the Initiative so his special skills of vampire staking could come into play.

Willow was so busy she didn't have time to think at all until their drive to Colorado Springs. _Giles we're on our way_, she told him telepathically.

For his part, Giles wasn't expecting the mental contact and spilled his tea on his lap. "Bloody hell!" he cursed aloud and stood up sharply, getting a mental giggle from the witch and a concerned look from Jack.

"Yeah you tell it who's boss. It jumped out and attacked you. I saw it," Jack deadpanned, earning a frustrated glance from Giles.

"It was Willow. They're on their way," he explained sopping up the tea with his napkin, wishing, not for the first time, that it was linen rather than paper.

"What was Willow?"

"Telepathy, she spoke in my mind. I wasn't expecting it just then," Giles explained distractedly, taking off the wet pants, glad the tea hadn't been hot enough to scald him.

Jack gave a wolf whistle.

Frustration from being drenched in tea gave way to confusion, "What?" he asked bewildered, but he saw Jack wiggling his eyebrows at him, looking at his boxers. He became flustered and blurted, "Oh for heaven's sake, Mac!"

"Heaven sent if you ask me," Jack grinned widely.

"Incorrigible! You're absolutely incorrigible!"

"Encourageable too," another eyebrow wiggle.

"Oh you! You're lucky you're broken or I'd throw my wet pants at you and let them cool you off," Giles said with a straight face, but then gave in to laughter. "Knowing you, you'd probably enjoy that!"

"Probably," Jack conceded. "So they're on their way then?"

"Yes," Giles agreed and checked to make sure his boxers weren't wet.

"You could take those off you know," Jack said and when Giles gave him a clueless look continued, "the boxers, shirt, all of it. I'm stuck in bed; you could at least give me something nice to look at. Your calves tell me you still work out regularly," Jack gave a sly smile.

Giles looked shocked at first, then smiled taking off his glasses and cleaning them with the handkerchief he had to fetch from the back pocket of his wet pants. "Yes, a matter of fact I do," then came the expected change of subject that happened anytime sex or anything sexual was mentioned and he had been recently talking to or thinking of one of his students. "I'd best get these in the wash," and just like that he left the room quickly.

When Ripper joined the Watcher's he became the more stereotypical uptight proper Brit. Jack thought that it might change their relationship and things _were_ a bit awkward at their first reunion after his training, for about a half hour. As they talked Giles started relaxing, seeing Jack was pretty much the same and was very accepting of his own extraordinary change. Soon he and Jack were laughing and exchanging stories both new and old, and Jack knew things would be fine. Giles was now less death defying, but just as passionate about his beliefs. The man's inner core was the same to Jack because behind closed doors a lot of "Ripper" was the man he saw before him. The brash and bluster of his public persona was dropped at the door and he was still a fun, intelligent man with remarkable ideas. The romantic and sexual attraction remained and they found themselves back on familiar grounds quickly.

Since that day there'd never been any question whether or not Giles's change had lost them their friendship, and until this last visit, no question of a change in their desire. This time it was not really desire that had been questioned, but more of a "has too much time passed" for Giles to assume such a close familiarity like they had shared in the past. Prior to Charlie's death the two hadn't been apart for more than two years, with occasional phone calls between. Then after the two week visit following the crystal entity's helping Jack, they hadn't gotten to see each other at all until Giles and company arrived at the cabin.

Both men had gone through their own issues that kept them apart, but Giles did think of Jack, especially when the Initiative's military missions reminded him of his own Special Forces man. Jack's thoughts of Giles were far less frequent due to his nearly constant need to save the world, but that didn't lessen Giles's importance to him.

Now that Jack was on a forced leave of absence he was surprised how happy he was to have Ripper with him again. Jack counted so much on SG1 to be there for him that he hadn't remembered how good life had been with the Englishman. It felt good to be able to trust someone outside the SGC, despite the fact that he was trying to get Giles _into_ the program. He was a memory from days when Jack was a _lot_younger and idealistic. He preferred going on his missions without guns then and letting his intelligence be the only weapon he needed. But Iraq changed that Jack into a far more suspicious gun toting soldier who brought as many weapons as he could everywhere he went. Still it was Giles who ultimately helped him put some of those nightmares behind him by being there for him in a way Sara never could be.

"Mac? Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"I've been talking to you…"

"You were? Sorry," Jack had a sheepish look, "I was lost in memories."

"Good ones I hope?"

"Some good, some bad; remembering the old days before and after my time in Iraq."

"Oh… well…" Giles said awkwardly at a loss for words.

"I remember how you helped me."

Now Giles looked into Jack's eyes, "I wish you'd told me about Charlie far sooner than you did so I could have helped you then as well. You shouldn't have had to deal with such a tragedy without someone who was there for you specifically. I know Sara was there, but it was her loss too, so neither of you could truly be there for the other as I know you must have needed."

"Honestly, I was too out of my mind. I probably would have lashed out at you too. I lost Sara when I lost Charlie, for the exact reason you said. I couldn't be there for her how she needed me to be, I wasn't strong enough."

Giles sat down next to Jack and put his hand on Jack's cast covered hand. "Now I can better empathize with your loss than when you first told me. Though not ever having had children of my own to lose, I'll never completely understand."

"And I hope you never have to, but we went through all the tears over Charlie last time. This time I'm here for _you_ and _your_loss," Jack said softly. The turn of conversation had killed Jack's romantic mood, not that he could have done anything about it in his current condition. It was good Giles played it shy and came back in a new pair of pants, sweat pants this time.

Letting Jack "take care of him" Giles laid on the bed next to him and in a much calmer manner than he had before, spoke to Jack about what exactly had happened and while occasionally he let the tears flow the conversation was much more cathartic than crying at the cabin had been.

_** Chapter Fifteen **_

Giles stood looking out the window at the extremely large rented truck parked out front of Jack's house, "And it's _full_?"

"Yep. Not everything is packed in boxes either, they gave us some when we rented the truck, but I filled those up fast. The boxes will be too heavy to lift though; I filled them where I opened them. Will said she could help move them with a little hocus pocus," Xander explained.

Cleaning his glasses once more, Giles sighed and pondered where he would put the tremendous stash of books and items that had been spread out through three buildings previously.

Willow came up behind him quietly, "Thank you, I had just had way too much soda on the last leg here and Xander didn't want to stop again since we were so close. Is Jack awake? Do you want to go warn him I'm coming?"

Giles nodded and headed into Jack's bedroom alone, "Mac?" he asked seeing Jack's eyes were closed, but they opened immediately on hearing his voice.

"Yeah? I'm up."

"They are here."

"Great. Tell them I said 'Hi,'" Jack said with a smile.

"Well, Willow is ready to help you, if you're up for it."

Jack thought about it for a moment, "What exactly is she going to do? Will it be like that spell you used or something more elaborate that involves sacrificing a goat?"

Giles chuckled at the mental image Jack gave him but shook his head, "No, her skill is beyond that simple spell I used. She heals on her own now, without doing spells, but for others," Giles shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure what she will do to heal you, though I can assure you it won't involve an animal sacrifice." When he saw Jack's discomfort he offered, "I can stay while she works."

Jack smiled and shook his head, "Nah, I'm a big boy, I can do this."

Giles heard the soldier in Jack now, "Alright, but if she needs my assistance is it alright for me to be here?"

"If she needs you, she needs you, sure you can be here," Jack replied and Giles knew he had managed to work around the soldier's bravado, leaving him with his dignity.

Nodding Giles turned to let Willow in, but paused and asked, "Mac, they brought all my books and relics in a huge rented truck. I don't have a place yet, do you know where a close storage facility is? I don't know how long Willow will be, so I'd like to send Xander to rent a—"

"Here, you can put it all here. The garage is half empty for my truck, but I never put it in there, and I've got other rooms in the house you can fill too. Anyplace you can find a spot is yours for as long as you want."

"But there's quite a bit and—"

"Here. End of story," Jack tried to sound commanding from his sick bed.

Giles smiled gratefully, "Thank you." He couldn't get over how good Jack was to him even after six years apart. "Willow, he's ready. Xander, please back the truck into the driveway, we will be unloading here after we're done." Xander got to work while Willow entered Jack's room.

Jack noticed right away that the sullen young woman looked much better, no longer catatonic, and for that he was glad. He knew she'd mourn for a lot longer, but that she was at least coherent and aware made him happy since she was supposedly about to heal him through the powers of her mind, not that he believed she could, still it would be best if she wasn't catatonic. "You're looking better, I'm glad to see."

"More than can be said for you Jack. I'm sorry you've been so hurt," the red-headed witch said while she moved to his bedside. "Xander told me this happened on duty?"

"Yeah, and it's pretty unusual for me actually. Normally I defend myself much better. I can't remember what happened yet, so I don't know what went wrong this time," Jack groused.

"He also told me he and Giles are joining you where you work?"

"Yep, and has he told you I invited you also?"

"Yes," she said softly then cocked her head to one side like heard something whispered, "What is the SGC?"

Jack blinked in surprise and looked at Giles then back to Willow, "It's the initials for where I work, how'd you—"

"Telepathy. I wasn't trying to read you, but you strongly thought those initials when you said I could join you," she explained and then it was her turn to blink in surprise. "Ooh nifty! You don't believe in magic, but you just put a decent mental block up."

"Special Forces training against brainwashing," Jack mumbled in apology.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do that."

"Never said you were, it's just an automatic reaction. Everything we work with is classified and I've had plenty of folks try to get what I know from me, so it's just part of the drill to prevent that from happening."

"You want Giles and Xander to join the Special Forces?"

"Not exactly. For Ripper the job title is 'Civilian Consultant to the U.S. Air Force' like Daniel, and for Xander, a soldier like me if he passes through the training, and if he's got the smarts for it, probably SF as well, due to the nature of our missions."

"And for me?"

"Well that depends on you. Ripper tells me you are a wiz with a computer as well as magic. I don't know what magic you can do, but I know we can use more computer geeks with knowledge of the more 'odd' aspects of reality. Not to mention if this healing thing works well, you might want to assist Doc Fraiser. It's really all up to what you _want_ to do."

Willow nodded silently and looked over the bandages to see where he'd been wounded, "Ok. Giles, I'll need both you _and_Xander in here for this."

Giles was clearly a bit surprised by that, he could cast spells and help Willow with rituals like she used to help him, but Xander? Perhaps she wanted him there for moral support, he thought, spun around and went to fetch the boy.

When Willow and Jack were alone she smiled a knowing smile, "I never realized Giles was gay."

Jack had an incredible coughing fit at those words.

"Don't worry, I didn't use telepathy for that one. I once thought he might be when I met Ethan Rayne, but seeing you two together I know he is, well bi anyway. You share all the same covert glances and hidden words I used to share with Tara before I knew I was gay. Don't worry, colonel, I won't tell," she used his rank as a sign she knew why she couldn't tell.

Jack was about to say something to her when Giles and Xander entered the room. Closing his mouth he gave Willow an "I'm trusting you" look.

She winked to Jack with her back to the others before turning to face the new comers, "Great. You two on either side of Jack, each of you put a hand on him, skin to skin contact please. I'd say hold hands, but with his injuries, upper arm would work just as well, just below his sleeve, then take my hands with your free hands," she explained and they did what she told them. Due to Jack being in bed, Giles had to move to kneel on the bed next to Jack, and Willow had to move close to Xander on the side of the bed and reach out for Giles's hand at a bit of an awkward angle, but it would suffice.

"Good. Now as best as you can, all of you relax your bodies and minds. Don't worry Jack I won't be looking to extract information, just add energies," that seemed to ease Jack and he relaxed.

Once everyone was relaxed enough Willow began to concentrate on her task. She wasn't nervous about casting like she had been back in Sunnydale casting to allow all potential Slayers all over the world full Slayer powers. Before then she'd been worried such a powerful spell would make her Dark again. She'd been very careful during her recovery after that horrible time, and the thought of using such great power again made her feel insecure in her ability to control herself. After the spell, however, she felt wonderful and knew she would be able to do anything she needed to. The darkness had been brought on by the murder of her beloved Tara and the need for revenge, but that wouldn't happen again. She'd lost Kennedy, but it was during the rescue of the world; all of those going into this knew they had a very high chance of dying. The odds were impossible until Willow's spell took hold, turning the tide and leading them to victory. Though when the seal to the Hellmouth collapsed, trapping all the Slayers within, it felt like a hollow victory. However, the trip back to the crater let her know there was nothing she could have done to change the situation. She'd been fully drained by the spell and even had she the energy to do anything, it was the magic in the amulet Spike wore that took down the Hellmouth and nothing could have prevented that. The spell she was truly casting right now would help these men both now and in the future when she couldn't be there to protect them.

A surge of energy built up in the room around all four of them. It was such an intense energy that they could feel it crackling around them, then Willow let it loose and all three men felt it hit them like a sudden, but brief, fierce wind, causing them all to gasp.

"Willow?!" Xander exclaimed and looked at her, Giles and Jack did also. What they saw was something only Kennedy had seen before, and only the one time; when Willow cast to empower the potential slayers. Her lovely red hair was now pure white and there was a golden white glow around her.

"My God Willow," Giles whispered when she smiled at them.

"What's going on Ripper?" Jack asked nervously feeling the energy course through his entire body and a separate feeling at each wound site.

"Don't worry. I've helped you, all of you. If you are an example of what can happen as part of your job, and Giles and Xander are joining you, well, I can't lose them Jack. I won't let them go if I can help it."

"Helped us how, Willow?" Jack demanded.

She smiled proudly, continuing to glow, though it was starting to fade, "I tapped back into the slayer energies, there is so much of it now all around the world, and I spread it through all four of us. I also gave each of you a bit of my own essence."

"Slayer energies? Your _own_essence? What does all that mea—" Jack never finished his sentence, however, and his eyes went wide, "Daniel!" Jack looked both horrified and nauseous. He jumped out of bed surprising them all, tore off his shoulder sling and stormed out of his room.

Xander and Giles tried to follow after Jack, but Willow put a restraining hand on Xander's arm, "Let Giles do it. Jack just remembered how he was injured." She hadn't planned on that, mostly because she didn't know that Jack didn't know and partially because she wasn't expecting his healing to work so fast. "Buffy didn't heal as fast as that _ever_right?"

Shaking his head Xander agreed, "No, never, but _you_ do, Will. At least you did when you were working the dark mojo. I think the healing was because of the 'Willow Essence' you gave us," Xander offered watching Giles go out after Jack.

Right on Jack's heals, Giles followed him out to his backyard where Jack was pulling off the rest of his bandages while he paced. "Mac?" Giles asked.

Jack turned on Giles like a viper, spitting words like venom, "_Daniel_did this to me! He fucking did this to me!"

"Wait a moment," Giles grabbed his forearms and made Jack face him. "Why would Daniel do this? I'm sure it's a mistake."

"No, he fucking did this on purpose!" Jack tried to move away, but found himself held fast by a much stronger than normal Giles.

"Why would he do that? He's your teammate, your friend."

"Because apparently the little prick decided I'm a traitor."

"What? Why on Earth? This _must_ be a mistake."

"Nope, he knows. I don't know how, but he knows we're lovers and the homophobic jackass beat the crap out of me for it!" This time when Jack pulled away Giles let him go.

The stunned Englishman's mind whirled and he watched Jack smash his wrist cast against a tree then pry it off and toss it away from him in a rage. "Mac," Giles began, "what if homophobia is _not_ why he attacked you?"

"It _has_to be, he was accusing me of fucking you, then when he asked straight out if we'd been lovers I said yes, thinking I could trust him. But nooooo, the minute I told him he freaked out even more and became all flying fists. Cracked my head by tackling me when I went for my gun."

"You said he called you a traitor?"

"Yeah, it was in another language, but it meant traitor. He was sliding through all the languages he knew as he ranted."

Giles caught Jack's arms again and spun him so they were eye to eye. "I don't think it was homophobia. He called you a traitor, beat you with his fists, that's a very personal sort of attack, and he entirely lost control when you confirmed we were lovers."

"So, and, therefore?" Jack asked exasperated.

"So, I think he did it out of jealousy, and is truly in love with you, therefore the attack was born out of passion not hate."


	4. Chapter 4

_** Chapter Sixteen **_

"How's he doing?" Sam asked gently and joined the doctor at the observation window, Teal'c behind her.

"I've kept him sedated more, he won't calm down otherwise."

"Anymore English?"

"Here and there, but fortunately nothing of the sort that you two translated. Speaking of which, any luck on further translations?"

A sigh preceded Sam's passing Janet a folder, "Yeah, more of the same. He answers the questions with very imaginative expletives, quite impressive really, but still more of the, um, possessive and accusatory terminology."

Janet accepted the folder and glanced through it, "I'm beginning to think it's true feelings behind what he's saying," she looked into Sam's eyes. "Tell me, since his descension, how's Daniel been? Have there been clues?"

For long quiet moments Sam thought, but it was Teal'c who replied, "I believe there have been many signs of DanielJackson's interest in Colonel O'Neill."

Janet looked stunned and asked, "What sort of signs?"

"A greater attachment to each other is clearly visible on away missions. DanielJackson sits closer and touches Colonel O'Neill more frequently."

"We're all showing more attachment since Daniel came back Teal'c. I don't think that it means anything more than we're glad he's back," Sam interjected.

"I have also seen DanielJackson watching more closely, and becoming hurt at the slightest negativity from the colonel, wanting always to please him. They share looks between them that I have seen many times in other men who share the same secret."

"You're not suggesting the colonel feels the same are you?" Janet was shocked.

"Indeed I am. However, I am uncertain if prior to this event, either man recognized it in themselves," Teal'c announced and now Sam nodded.

"He's right. The more I think about it, there have been some times when I swear I've seen one looking the other over. I always brushed it off as threat assessment or making sure nothing was left behind. I guess I was just pushing the idea out of my mind because they were both married at one time and seem to attract a _lot_ of women off world," Sam admitted.

"If all of this is true, we need to make sure it stays private. Their social lives are their own and we don't need rumors floating around that could cause problems with how the team operates. Do either of you have a problem with that," Janet asked as more of a command.

"I have no problem with their attraction or with the need to conceal it."

"Same here," Sam replied after Teal'c.

"Do you think this situation _will_cause problems between them on missions?"

"No. The colonel's always professional—" Sam began.

"Even when his interests were for Major Carter the colonel never allowed it to cloud his judgment," Teal'c finished and they all nodded their agreement, though Sam couldn't hide a soft blush that their previous attraction had been outted by Anise.

"I'll have the tapes of Daniel's ranting changed to a higher clearance so only SG1, the general and I can access them. Meanwhile, the only things I can do to help him, I've already done, and it's a waiting game as to when the paranoia and anger will subside," Janet sighed.

"Have you tried adding histamine to his environment, if it was the anti-histamine that caused all this, maybe that would help?" Sam offered.

Janet shook her head, "Already tried that Sam. It was the actual chemical make up of the planet that was the catalyst, the medication made it far worse because of its own design, but Colonel Rojas said that Captain Morris was showing signs of changes before he took his own medications. The chemicals are now out of Daniel's system, but the aggression is still there as it was with Paul."

As they contemplated solutions they saw Daniel begin to wake up, "Jack?"

"He's not here Daniel, but Sam and Teal'c came to visit," Janet said into the intercom.

Daniel tried to see where they were, but his eyes weren't able to focus that far without his glasses, so he sighed and gave up.

"How are you feeling Daniel?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Cansado," he groaned in Spanish. "Tengo hambre."

"Tired and hungry," Sam translated for them.

"I'll have some food brought in for you," Janet offered and called the cafeteria.

After an acknowledging nod Daniel groaned, "How could he do this to me?" Now Daniel spoke in English and sounded truly pitiful.

"Daniel, you're under the influence of an allergy to something on P4X-424," Janet said, not for the first time, hoping this time he'd understand.

"Jack how could you?" Daniel asked the air.

"Jack didn't do anything Daniel; it's all in your mind."

"I'm not crazy!" Daniel snapped defensively.

"No one's saying you are. We know that as soon as the effect wears off you'll feel better and realize Jack didn't do anything to hurt you."

"Yes he did! He betrayed me!" and fortunately for their "secret" Daniel returned to screaming in other languages.

A collective groan came from all three observers and they knew that Daniel still wasn't himself.

Janet's cell rang and she answered briskly, "Dr. Fraiser here…" then listened for a moment. She winced and asked, "When did he remember? What exactly was happening when he—"

Sam and Teal'c watched the doctor expectantly, wanting news of Jack.

"But why can't you just tell me over the phone? Hello? Hello?? Mr. Giles? Where did he go?" Her eyes flicked up to Sam and Teal'c. "Who is this? No! No it's far too soon for him to be out of bed. Tell him I'll come to him there. I'm serious Mr. Xander, huh? Oh, well I'm serious Xander, Jack can _not_ get out of be—he _what_?! I'm coming right over! You keep him there. What?? Tell him it's an order! Fine," she hung up the cell without saying good bye and started to move toward her office to get her traveling med kit, but Sam put a hand on her forearm.

"Janet? What is it?"

"Jack remembered it, _all_ of it. He wants to come in and talk to me about it. He started to try to leave the house so Mr. Giles ran after him and Xander, who is apparently over at the colonel's too, took up the phone to fill me in."

"We're coming with you," Sam stated, but Janet refused.

"You stay here and try to keep Daniel calm. Maybe you two can get through to him where I couldn't. Make sure no one but my staff goes in there." She commanded, hurried to her office, then to Jack's house.

_** Chapter Seventeen **_

Pounding on the door and yelling, "It's Dr. Fraiser, let me in," Janet was a bundle of adrenaline from her quick drive and worry for Jack.

A woman with long straight red hair answered the door, "Come on in, they're expecting you. I'm Willow."

Janet shook hands quickly and headed for Jack's bedroom. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jack unbandaged and pacing, "Jack?!"

"Doc!" Jack spun on his heals and strode toward the short woman, "Tell me what's happening with Daniel."

"I'd rather know what's happening with you first!" she said reaching up to the place on his forehead where a bandage should be, but wasn't, nor was there a scar or any indication he'd been operated on.

"Willow healed me—is Daniel really quarantined or is he in the brig?"

Turning to look at the smiling Willow in disbelief then back to Jack, Janet was thoroughly confused. "Healed you _how_?"

"Magic—are you going to answer my questions or not?" Jack groused.

"Daniel is really quarantined; his wounds were minor and are healing well. His mind, however, is still paranoid aggressive. Now you tell me what the hell is going on here. Did she use a Goa'uld hand-device? Implant you with a symbiote?" She began checking for a symbiote and continued her rapid fire questions, "Sarcophagus? Something Tok'ra? Tollan? Is she Nox?"

"Slow down there Doc. I already told you, she used magic."

"No such thing."

"I didn't believe it either, but there's no doubt it worked," Jack said and spun in place holding his arms out showing her he was all healed.

Janet now looked at Giles, "Mr. Giles may I have a word with you in private?"

"Of course, but I assure you Mac's telling the truth, which is precisely why I didn't wish to speak about this on the telephone," Giles explained. A young man came in bearing a tray of coffee for all, but Giles, who preferred tea. "Thank you, Xander," Giles accepted his cup and saucer.

Everyone took coffee and sat on Jack's bed except Dr. Fraiser, "Hi, I'm Xander, we spoke on the phone. Have some coffee and take a seat, you'll be glad you're sitting shortly."

Janet was too shocked to argue, so sat in a chair that had been brought in from Jack's dining room and stared at the odd assembly sitting on two edges of Jack's bed.

"I know this sounds totally nuts, but Willow here is a witch, a _good_ witch, like Glenda, but without the wand and stuff. She did this _thing_ and now I'm healed. Totally healed, even my knees and back are better," Jack said.

"How?" was all the doctor could think to ask.

Now Willow took over, "Giles asked me to come heal Jack, so I came, saw how badly injured he was and agreed to help; now he's better than he's ever been." Janet gave a "yeah right" look and Willow smiled understanding her disbelief. "I have _so_ been there. You think I am totally out of my mind, but I promise I'm not, well, not anymore anyway. It's real magic; not like parlor tricks or fake stuff that'll only make him think he's better but in the end leave him just as sick as before. I'd never do that to one of Giles's friends. We don't let many people know what I can do, it's kind of a secret, you know? So if he asked me to do it, I _know_it's super important. And since Jack asked him and Xander to join you guys, I figured it's best to make sure all three of them had a little more protection, just incase. I wasn't expecting it but as a side effect of the spell, he kinda healed a lot faster than I thought he would, which also gave him back his memories at the same time."

"I need some answers, Doc," Jack interrupted, "before I blow a fuse and kill Daniel. You need to tell me why he did this, and it better be good."

"Well, alright Jack, but you might want a bit of privacy," Janet gave in, because she felt it was clear she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of them on how Jack was healed so quickly.

Jack looked over his shoulder at Xander and Willow who nodded and left leaving Giles behind with Jack and Janet. Janet gave Jack a look when Giles didn't leave. "It's about him too and he's the guy who's been trying to convince me Daniel did it because of love not hate. He can stay."

Janet seemed surprised, "About him? Mr. Giles is the 'he' Daniel keeps yelling about??"

"Yep."

In disbelief she turned to Giles, "How'd you figure it as love not hate?" _She_ knew, but she was curious how _he_ figured it out.

"Well to call him a traitor is a powerful accusation, and to say it was due to our history; well if he was homophobic he wouldn't call Jack a traitor, but more likely a pervert or deviant," Giles said and Janet's jaw dropped.

"Your history? Homophobic? You really _are_ lovers then?" the doctor was shocked at the affirmation of what she barely believed could possibly be the truth of why Daniel attacked his best friend and C.O.

"I thought Daniel told you?" It was Jack's turn to be shocked.

"Well, sort of. He never mentioned Mr. Giles. The translations are mostly about you, Jack. Asking how you could do it when he loved you so much, didn't you care what you were doing to him, if he couldn't have you he'd make sure no one else did; those sort of things."

Jack sighed and threaded his fingers through his short hair, "You were right, Ripper. I can't believe it though. Why would he think he _couldn't_be with me now?"

"Perhaps my being here now makes him feel that we are too involved for you to care for him," Giles offered.

As the men spoke, Janet was besides herself to learn the most macho man she knew, was lovers with another man, willingly. "Jack, are you equally as interested in Daniel as he is in you?"

Jack contemplated that thought and shrugged, "I think so, but if I can't be with him, I can't be with him. I'd never beat the tar out of him or try to kill him over it. I guess I've got more discipline that him, or practice at keeping my emotions in check."

"I honestly don't think that he ever would have hurt you if it weren't for his reaction to P4X-424. He never had a mean streak in him unless it was toward a Goa'uld. Captain Morris never did either. I'm positive he wasn't in control when he attacked you. Even if he _is_truly jealous of Mr. Giles, I don't think it would take the form of violence. He's more likely to close in on himself than lash out at another." Janet offered.

"I agree. He really seemed to be a good sort of man. You've never found your other half. Daniel may be the one, but you'll never know if you don't put this incredibly unfortunate event behind you," Giles said.

"Mr. Giles is right, Jack. Daniel is still not mentally stable right now, but when he regains his senses, he may be so upset over what he's done that he becomes suicidal again. If he does, you're the only one of us who can bring him back."

They were both right, the question now was _could_he forgive Daniel enough to be the one doing the comforting rather than needing it? "Ripper, is there anything you or Willow can do to help Daniel's recovery?"

After a few moments of contemplation Giles shrugged, "I'm not sure, as I don't know what's causing it, but if Dr. Fraiser could explain it to us there may be something we can do."

Janet shook her head, "There are no parlor tricks that can help him."

"Oh, for crying out loud! Doc, look! See? All healed!" Jack turned a circle once more showing himself to her, even going so far as to take off his shirt, push his ribs where they'd been broken, wiggle his previously fractured wrist and even did some deep knee bends. "Seriously, these aren't parlor tricks. I didn't believe it myself until I was healed. Even my knees Doc! My knees have given me trouble for ages but they are totally better. How can you deny I've been healed? Give them a chance to fix Daniel up."

"They don't have the necessary clearance—"

"They will. I'm having them join the SGC, each in different areas for the abilities they possess."

For a moment it seemed Janet would protest, but she sighed and gave in, "First they go through screening and sign the non-disclosure forms. Then we'll see about them looking at Daniel or joining the SGC."

"Yeah, sure, you betcha," Jack grinned.

_** Chapter Eighteen **_

"See I told you they'd check out," Jack said triumphantly.

"Still seems suspicious that they are the only survivors of the Sunnydale earthquake," General Hammond said.

"They aren't the _only_survivors, most of the city was evacuated well before hand, and once you give them their own clearance code, they'll be able to tell you all sorts of things that are 'classified' from their end, but will explain things much better than what they can currently tell you."

"Like what?" the general asked skeptically.

"Like the truth behind the Sunnydale event. It wasn't an earthquake, but you'll only get to learn more from them," Jack said cryptically. "Besides, Daniel himself said he needed Ripper for the department, he can translate some of what none of the rest can."

"Fine, fine, but for now they all get _temporary_Civilian Consultant Status. I want Mr. Harris' military skills tested and I want him trained like the rest before he can be considered for an SG team," Hammond said.

"That'll work just fine, sir."

"And when you all are done with Dr. Jackson, I want a _full_ debriefing on _exactly_how you were healed by Ms. Rosenberg."

"You got it general," Jack said and returned to the conference room where three folks from Sunnydale, California sat waiting. "We have a go people, time to head out," the colonel in Jack said and he led them to the infirmary's main isolation room where Daniel was being kept.

Janet was already there talking over the microphone to him, "They are on their way now Daniel. They are _not_psychiatrists, not even doctors at all, and I want you to try and keep calm alright?"

For now Jack and Giles stayed out of sight so they wouldn't upset their unsteady archaeologist. It was Xander and Willow who appeared at the isolation room door and who the SFs guarding that door let in, Willow to help Daniel and Xander to protect Willow, even though she insisted she didn't need protection. "Hello Daniel," Willow said and Daniel's eyes moved toward her. He said something in Ancient to her which caused her to smile and nod, her telepathy allowed her to get the general feeling of what he said even though she didn't know the language. "Yes I'm feeling better, thank you, but I heard _you_ weren't feeling so well and I came to see if I could help."

"See-mu-we?" Daniel asked in ancient Egyptian looking almost hopeful.

"Yep, I want to help you, so close your eyes and try to relax. I'm going to have to look and see if this is something I can help with," her words were soft and Daniel _was_ doing better so rather than curse her out he complied.

Everyone watching held their breath and crossed their fingers. Captain Morris had been alright for a while now, but Daniel had been more deeply affected and Janet's fear was that the paranoid aggression might be permanent in Daniel's case.

"Remember Daniel," Willow whispered as she bent down and caressed his forehead, "Remember who you are in your heart. Fight this taint inside you and come back to yourself." She changed from whispers to telepathy so only Daniel could hear her. _Come back to the man you love and who loves you. Come back so you can complete each other's soul. I see it in you both, your love _is _meant to be, but not this way, not in suspicion, not in jealousy. Your love _is _returned, no matter what you've done, he is here for you and always will be. Don't let the darkness of what has happened cover the light of your love, he won't let it happen, neither should you. Come back and rejoice in what will be the most powerful love you'll ever know._ When Willow "spoke" those last words Daniel's eyes opened.

"Jack? Where's Jack? My God! Please tell me I didn't kill him!" he screamed the last and struggled to get up, but the bonds held him tight.

"I'm right here Danny," Jack said over the microphone.

Daniel's eyes flicked up to see Jack and he began to cry, "I'm so sorry, Jack! I swear I couldn't stop what was happening to me. Jack, please don't hate me!" he was crying so hard it was obvious that Daniel really didn't mean to attack Jack and was on the verge of breaking down over it.

Willow smiled up at Dr. Fraiser and Jack then removed the "Hannibal" mask from Daniel, "He knows Daniel, give him a chance to get down here so you two can talk, but he knows you didn't mean it," she took Xander by the hand and left the room with him.

"What did you do to fix him?" Xander asked once in the hallway.

"Just something I learned from a special someone. I let him know that even when you're at your darkest, _especially_ when you're at your darkest, there's someone out there who loves you. It's amazing how that knowledge can soothe a person and bring them back to who they really are," Willow answered.

Xander grinned from ear to ear, knowing it was _he_ who taught her that and hugged his best friend tightly, right there in the corridor with the two SFs guarding the door. "I love you Will."

"I love you too Xander."

_** Chapter Nineteen **_

"Damned nice of ol' Doc Fraiser to let me bring you home, rather than keeping you in the iso room," Jack said locking Daniel's apartment door behind him.

Daniel looked around his apartment and felt slightly off, like someone had rearranged his furniture, though everything was where it had been previously. It wasn't the room that changed, it was him.

"Want me to fix you some coffee?"

"No," Daniel answered softly, "Jack we've gotta talk," he headed for his couch.

Jack groaned as softly as he could. He _knew_ they had to talk, but it was _not_ the kind of conversation Jack was any good at. "Yeah, I guess we do," Jack said but rather than joining him on the couch he turned to the kitchen and opened the fridge, giving a silent "thank you" to whatever entity had made sure there was beer in there. "Beer, Daniel?"

"No thanks," Daniel replied and waited for Jack to return, beer in hand, and already low, showing Jack had a few gulps in the kitchen before he was brave enough to face Daniel. He couldn't help thinking how ironic it was that Jack could face down an army of Jaffa easier than a conversation about feelings deeper than what was on the surface at any given moment. He didn't know that "feelings" were deemed only for girls by Jack and Giles twenty five years ago, though if he would have known he would _still_ want to talk to Jack about them and about a relationship.

Jack sat down at the opposite end of the couch indicating he was going to _have_the conversation, _but_ he wasn't looking forward to it.

Daniel watched Jack take another long swig of beer and decided he had best start the talking because Jack likely wouldn't, "I'm sorry I attacked you like that."

"You've said that already."

"You have to know it wasn't me, I couldn't control myself."

"You and Fraiser said that already."

"Ok so you've heard it a few times then, but do you _believe_ it?"

"Yeah," but Jack didn't sound very convinced.

Reflexively, in a move he hadn't done in quite long time, Daniel hugged himself and looked away from Jack. "I could see myself doing it, hear myself raving on and on, but I also felt a strong anger welling up in me, first at the council, then at you. I'd gotten, well, I guess jealous, at your cabin, watching you and Giles. You seemed so, I don't know, open? Trusting? Free? And while intellectually I knew you'd known each other a very long time I had just met him, so when I saw you that easygoing with someone who, to me, was a stranger, well it ate at me I guess. I hadn't planned to say anything, hoping to just let the feeling pass, but the long drawn out discussions with the council gave me too much time to think, while the pollen, or whatever it was in the air, made me more and more upset about it. I swear Jack I care too much about you to ever attack you like that, to be _violent_ to you," Daniel sounded extremely disgusted with himself and looked quite nauseous at the memory of what he'd done.

"So, you got jealous _before_ the mission then?"

"Yes, but I intended to hide it like always."

"Like always? There have been other times?"

Deeply blushing Daniel nodded.

"So it wasn't a fake jealousy brought on by fake love given to you on P4X-424? It was real?"

Daniel looked even more miserable now that he was "outted" to Jack, positive it would mean the end of their friendship despite what Willow said to him. "Real jealousy, real love."

"How long has this been going on?"

Swallowing hard he confessed, "Years, but I never said anything because it seemed you hated me, then barely tolerated me, then when we became true friends I still thought you were straight as an arrow. Especially when you and Sam—well anyway there was never a 'good' time to tell you, and I was sure if I did it would end our friendship, kinda like is gonna happen now."

"Why do you think our friendship is going to end now?"

"Well it's pretty clear you're pissed at me for what I did even though I had no control over it."

"Am I?" Jack lofted a curious eyebrow.

"Aren't you? Sure seems like you are. Your 'yeah' reply to my question about you believing that I had no control sounded pretty unsure."

"That's because I wasn't sure if _all_ of it was brought on by the planet, like the basis for the jealousy, but now you've told me it's not fake and it's been going on for ages. I guess that's what I needed to hear to be sure."

"Then, you're not pissed at me?" Daniel dared hope.

"Not now. I was before when I thought you did it because you were homophobic."

"Homophobic? Me? That's pretty much impossible. Anthropologists have to have an open mind to do what we do," then something dawned on Daniel. "You needed to hear my feelings were real? Why does it matter if I love you or not?"

"Because if you didn't, I'd feel like an idiot for doing this," Jack pulled Daniel into a deep, long awaited, passionate kiss.

At first Daniel was too shocked to respond, but then he melted into the kiss he'd been imagining for years. When the kiss broke Daniel was breathless and just stared at Jack in awe. Could Jack actually be interested in him as well? Until the kiss he truly believed Willow was just saying what she knew Daniel needed to hear to break out of the paranoid anger. "What about Giles?" Daniel asked finally.

"What about him?"

"You and he are lovers."

"So, and, therefore?"

"Well, I'm assuming that wasn't just a pity kiss; it felt pretty promising," Daniel said with a blush.

Jack smiled and leaned back, taking a much more casual drink of beer than he had been doing prior to the conversation's start. "Yeah, I'd say it was pretty promising."

"So won't Giles be upset?"

"About?"

For a moment Daniel wondered if Jack's head wound was really healed or if he was still a bit slow, "Us?"

"Why would he be upset about us?"

"Um, I don't know, jealousy perhaps?"

Jack laughed, "He's never been jealous before. We have an understanding, we aren't exclusive. I married Sara after all, and he's had his own lovers too."

"Wait a minute, you and he stayed together when you were with Sara?" Daniel was shocked.

"Well, together isn't the right word, we were never a 'couple', but yes we were still intimate while I was married."

"You were cheating on her?"

"Technically I suppose so, but I never felt that way, never felt guilt or regret with him, because that's not what we were about. We weren't having an affair; we were just _us_, same as always. It's hard to explain."

"So then you don't love each other? You're just bed-buddies? No emotions?"

"Oh we love each other alright, but we also know neither of us is the other's soul mate, so there's no need to get jealous. We will always be there for each other, as we have been since we lived together," Jack confessed. "I don't see that ever changing."

Daniel lost his voice momentarily from this revelation. If Jack was in love with Giles, what did that mean Jack could feel for him? Would he continue to "be" with Giles if he and Jack got involved? "But if you are in love with him and clearly you're in a relationship with him—"

"Let me stop you there, we are _not_in a relationship. Ripper and I are on a different wavelength than other folks. We are what we are. Like he said it way back when, we don't have a relationship, because those take work to keep going or they'll end. What we have doesn't end, it's not hard to deal with, there's no jealousy, no accusations, no recriminations. We just _are_," Jack explained calmly.

Daniel listened in disbelief. Did Jack not believe in relationships because they are too much work? Was that the real reason he and Sara divorced, if so, where did that leave him and Daniel? "I… we… you and me," he couldn't form the words into a coherent sentence.

"I realized I was in love with you when you ascended. When you came back to me I vowed to find a time and way to tell you. A couple of times I thought you'd figured it out, caught me looking at you too long, or spending too much time with you. Daniel, what I have with Ripper never had anything to do with my not telling you, that was all me being too nervous to tell you," Jack explained.

"What about Sara?" he managed at last. "Did you divorce her because the relationship was too hard to work on to keep going?" Daniel held his breath.

"In a way yes, but it wasn't because of jealousy or lack of love; it was Charlie's death. I couldn't handle losing him _and_be there for her at the same time. I couldn't be the strong man she needed me to be. She divorced me because of that, and I didn't fight the divorce when I got back from Abydos and found out she filed. I needed to be alone to deal with my loss. That's the only reason that, at the time, the relationship was too hard to keep going."

"So, you, um… I mean… us? We love each other? That kiss was 'promising', meaning we are going to be together?"

Jack chuckled, finished his beer and put the empty on the coffee table, "That's the plan."

"So, you're _not_ opposed to relationships as a whole then?"

Grinning Jack shook his head, "No, I'm not opposed to them. I'm not saying what you and I have will be easy _or_hard. It will be different than what I have with Ripper and had with Sara. We have to deal with the military 'don't ask, don't tell,' but that's the only possible issue I see on the horizon."

"And, you and Giles? Will you remain lovers?" That was the hardest question Daniel had, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Well, we'll always be there for each other, but if it's sex you're worried about, he and I haven't been intimate yet since his arrival. Don't know if we will be or not, but I can't promise you that I won't; it's not something we really plan out, it just happens. Is that something you can handle Danny?"

"I'm not sure Jack, but always be honest with me like this so I can deal with what's happening as it comes. I'm not sure that I can handle having an open relationship," Daniel confessed entirely unsure of their future together as lovers.

"Well, it's not exactly an open relationship. It's only him. I'm not going to be with anyone other than you and possibly him. Sara never even knew about us in that way. She knew we were the closest of friends, but not that we were lovers. It never affected our relationship in anyway and I am hoping it won't affect _our_ relationship either. The big difference here is that you actually _know_ about us."

Daniel was quiet now, thinking over everything Jack had said. Would Jack have told him about Giles if he hadn't found out on his own? He knew Jack had no problem not telling Sara because Jack was well trained military and to them an omission was not a lie, so it wasn't likely Jack would have told him, nor would he feel bad about it. Jack also planned to continue his relationship—which wasn't a relationship—with Giles. He couldn't comprehend that the two men could love each other and not get jealous when they were with other people. Their laid back attitude toward what they had between them seemed to suggest they were nothing more than occasional bed-buddies, but he said they loved each other and Daniel had no reason to believe Jack would lie about that. Jack would have been better off if he had agreed there was no love between them, so there would be no benefit to that sort of lie.

Was this "thing" between them the reason Jack wanted Giles to join the SGC; to keep him closer for more frequent rendezvous? No, he himself extended the offer to Giles because of his extraordinary knowledge. Who knew demons and magic were real? He would truly be a huge asset to the SGC. Magic—maybe it was the reason for their bizarre bond. He'd speak to Willow about that possibility.

"Daniel? You ok? Did I just ruin 'us' before there even was an 'us' to ruin?" Jack asked softly putting a hand on Daniel's hand, hoping to break the long uncomfortable silence.

Daniel looked into Jack's eyes, and saw sincerity there, and love, "No, you haven't ruined things. I just have to settle this thing with Giles in my mind. Of all the ways I imagined this conversation with you, another man in your life was never one of the possible snafu's that came up."

"You've imagined this conversation before?"

Blushing Daniel nodded, "Yeah I've imagined a lot of things over the years."

"Oh? Do tell," Jack grinned and let his thumb caress Daniel's hand where it rested.

"Noooo, I think I'll keep them to myself, that way I can see if any of the scenarios come true," he grinned lightening up a bit. The memory of all the fantasies he had of Jack flooded through his mind's eye.

"Well then, how about, for now, while you're busy thinking things through, I put your mind to ease about how I really feel about you?" Jack said and leaned in to kiss him gently, romantically, and slowly enough so Daniel wouldn't feel pressured.

Right away Daniel felt anything but pressured. Despite his reservations about Jack and Giles, he had wanted to be with Jack for so long that he gave in to his own desires. Pulling himself forward and into Jack's lap, he wrapped his arms around him and enjoyed a long erotic necking session with the man of his dreams. Jack cherished his time with Daniel knowing full well he'd deal with his new Californian recruits later.

_** Epilogue **_

When Jack found out the role the little creature he named Thing played in saving him, he grew nearly as fond of it as it was of him and he accepted it as a constant shoulder companion, even taking it out on the mission back to P4X-424 when he and the complete SG1 returned there. This time, however, Jack was not allowing the sessions to be more than four hours long, two times a day, with Daniel getting _plenty_ of food and sleep between sittings. When his allergies acted up he was sent back home rather than taking an antihistamine.

Between Daniel and Captain Morris, who was released and cleared of all charges, they got the "big honkin' space gun" which turned out to be not so big and extremely complicated. Carter was in heaven trying to figure it out, but when it became clear that it was _too_complicated to reverse engineer they put it on the Daedalus as weaponry and tried to get the Norandans to teach them how to make the weaponry they wanted. Doc Fraiser also spent some time trying to learn about their marvelous medical advances while things at the SGC went back to as normal as they ever were.

_The End… For Now._

_** Coming Soon **_

Lugging several boxes of tombs into an office/laboratory exactly like Daniel's, in fact next door to Daniel's, Giles saw his center table was already filled with artifacts and relics that needed researching. He would be working closely with Daniel at times, but on his own other times, which is why he had a separate office, but still one close to Daniel's.

He brought only the basic reference books, leaving the bulk at Jack's place, knowing he could get them when he needed them, or work at home when the items could be brought off base. Jack insisted he stay with him for as long as he desired, but Giles knew that if things between Jack and Daniel had any hope of blooming into a full romance, Giles would need to move out.

He also knew a personal conversation between Daniel and himself would be coming sooner rather than later. The only reason it hadn't happened yet, in his opinion, was Daniel's recovery time off base, SG1s finishing the mission they had started before the "incident", and the extremely lengthy "briefing" that he, Willow and Xander had to give on the truth about Sunnydale and its more unusual residents. To his credit General Hammond took everything they said in stride and gave them the respect of not looking at them like they were insane. He _did_ request they write up official reports that would have an entirely separate clearance level that only the three of them, Hammond, Dr. Fraiser and SG1 would have access to.

Xander was in training evaluation to see how much he retained of his soldier side. He would, however, have to be sent to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for two months for normal basic training, and then continue specialized training to be able to work at the SGC. It was unsure if he would be a base soldier or be assigned to a team, but when his physical revealed his greatly increased strength, speed, agility, healing and the other heightened abilities Willow gave him it looked like he'd be put on a team.

Dr. Fraiser ran all three men whom Willow "enhanced", as well as Willow herself, through all sorts of crazy tests and had no scientific explanation for the abilities so had to accept, at least for now, Willow's explanation of magic. She kept Willow with her for several days asking her all manner of questions to asses what sort of things she could help with on both current and possible future medical issues. Overall, however, it was decided Dr. Fraiser would continue to do most things the old fashioned way unless a truly odd situation came up that made the magical intervention necessary. Willow was actually happy about that because she preferred to keep her magic low key on base, not wanting to become the object of experiments; with their debriefing still fresh in their minds, all three Sunnydalers where leery of attracting the wrong sort of attention from rogue military groups.

For the time being Willow was learning Daniel's database system so she could assist Giles in setting up a pass coded section for his own research findings. She'd also assist him in researching like she used to do until she figured out where she wanted to be. Curiosity, however, had her snooping through classified files and one particular folder she wanted access to was named simply "The Initiative."

_To be continued_


End file.
